Black Ice
by Mokibobolink
Summary: Gibbs and Tony are on their way back from a case when their car slides off the road. With Tony injured, Gibbs finds himself doing whatever it takes to care for his agent. Hurt!Tony. PapaGibbs. NOW COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

_Hello all, _

_Well here's my latest NCIS fic. This one is pretty much done, just working on the last chapters. Seven are done and it should be maybe ten chapters when complete. I am posting two today and will try and post one every day or so until all are up. _

_In it you'll find lots of hurt!Tony and some PapaGibbs as well. Based on lots of from "I've Got You", I will be sure to put in some of Tony's recovery as well. _

_Hope y'all like it. :o)_

_-Moki_

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Chapter One

"_Tony!!"_

------

"Wait Boss, I think that note is in my bag," Tony said. The two were driving back from searching their lead suspect's home and as said suspect chose to live out in absolute nowhere, they had a couple hours of driving time to kill. The snowstorm that popped up rather unexpectedly had only added to that drive time and Gibbs decided to go over some of the finer points of the murder with his lead agent.

Tony reached into the backseat for his ever present backpack as Gibbs continued to drive. The backpack had shifted from the car's swerving on the twisting road and was now nestled up against the passenger door behind him. Grunting to reach back with his left arm, Tony stretched his fingers as far as they would go. In doing so, he also leaned a little too far into Gibbs' personal space.

"DiNozzo." Gibbs said quietly, still looking ahead at the road in front of him.

"Yeah Boss?" Tony's voice was muffled by the fabric of Gibbs' seat.

"You wanna get your face off me?"

"Sorry, Boss."

"It can wait till we get back," Gibbs said with a sigh.

"No, I can get it," Tony replied, not ready to give up yet. The bag had now become a challenge. "Hang on."

With that Tony unclipped his seatbelt and turning himself completely around, planted his knees on his seat and wriggled his upper body into the backseat.

Still paying close attention to the road, Gibbs was only aware at first of the numerous grunts coming from the other side of the car. Deciding to find out what in the world was going on, he looked over and found himself face to face with….

Tony's ass.

"DiNozzo!"

Forgetting where he was for a second, Tony's instincts to that call from his boss brought him up to a full and upright position.

Or they would have, if the car's roof hadn't been in his way, causing him to slam his head into the upholstery above.

"Ow!"

"What the hell are you doing back there DiNozzo?"

"Getting the notes," Tony reached back down into the compartment he had unzipped right before his head became very familiar with the ceiling. "Gotcha!" he said in triumph, pulling out the paper he'd been seeking.

Gibbs allowed himself an indulgent smile, shaking his head at the antics of his agent. Tony wasn't a kid anymore but sometimes he sure could act like one. He'd never admit it to anyone but the truth was that sometimes Gibbs liked it.

Sometimes.

Tony began the task of untwisting himself from his ridiculous position, managing to do so without bumping into Gibbs even once. Being careful not only because it wasn't safe to knock a driver around on a dark snowy night like the one outside, but also because he knew if he did, his boss would have him on desk duty for a week.

The agent had most of his long body back in the front of the car and was just in the midst of turning himself forward when they hit the black ice.

Neither of them had much time to react as the car slid out of control. Gibbs used everything in his power to keep them on the road but it was no use, once their wheels hit the ice they were in an uncontrolled slide. He realized with horror that they were going over the railing and realized with even more horror that Tony, still out of his seatbelt, had nothing to hold him down.

Knowing what was about to happen, Gibbs lost control of his voice, yelling out before he'd even realized he'd done it.

"Tony!!"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

_Dammit, I hate it when DiNozzo's right_.

------

Tony didn't have time to do much more than try to protect his face when the car impacted with the white railing. A fall from a tree that had broken his arm as a child taught him not to brace with his arms in such a situation. Instead in the half second he had to prepare, he pulled his elbows in tight and covered his face with his hands.

There was a lot of noise - screeching of metal, bangs, thumps and cracks of the plastic of the seats and dashboard, the shatter of glass and an odd screeching noise that Tony couldn't put his finger on right away.

There was also the noise of bones breaking but Tony never heard those. They were drowned out by everything else.

The car went through the railing, hit a snow bank which slowed it down and finally planted itself against a tree.

After the loudness of the crash, the silence that followed was somehow more deafening. Gibbs didn't think he blacked out but the absolute absence of sound was disconcerting enough for him to wonder if he had.

Gibbs took a few deep breaths, taking stock of his body. He found that he could move all of his appendages, none of which responded with the telltale numbness that could mean the pain of a broken bone being hidden by adrenaline. His airbag had deployed but he found that his face was cut. Looking up he immediately saw why. A tree branch had shoved its way through the window, barely missing his head by inches. The branches had cut a long gash on his forehead and left him with some other minor cuts and bruises but other than that, he appeared to be okay.

A groan reminded him of his passenger and Gibbs struggled to move the branches inside the forest within the car to see his agent.

"DiNozzo?" Gibbs called out. Hearing no response tried again.

"Tony? Can you hear me?"

Another muffled groan answered.

"Yeah Boss, I can hear you," finally came the quiet reply.

"You alright?"

There was a pause so long that Gibbs was about to ask again when he heard Tony's voice penetrate through the darkness.

"I…think so," Tony said slowly and Gibbs realized that the pause he'd heard before came from the younger agent doing a systematic check of his own body, much as Gibbs had done minutes before.

"I bet I'm gonna hurt like hell in the morning but I don't think there's any serious damage. How about you, Boss?" Tony asked. They still couldn't see each other in the dark interior of the car, the tree branch wedged firmly between them. It was then that Tony figured out that the strange screeching he'd heard before must've been the branch scratching along the metal hood of the car.

Gibbs smiled ruefully. "The same."

Now that he knew DiNozzo was okay, Gibbs took stock of their situation. He looked around and saw that despite what felt like a huge fall off a cliff, they had in fact only slid a few hundred yards off the main road. The previous week's worth of snow had been recently plowed off to the side, creating a fairly soft wall which slowed their momentum greatly. Other than the branch of the tree sticking through the windshield and the damage to the front end from the trunk, the car wasn't in that bad of shape. Which explained why the two of them were still in one piece.

The car wouldn't run again any time soon but at least it would give them some shelter from the cold and snow until they were rescued. Gibbs reached for his cell, grateful to find it still in his pocket and not lost in the impact. When he flipped it open though he wasn't nearly as happy. There was no service.

"DiNozzo, you still got your cell?" Gibbs asked, still a little unnerved that he couldn't really see Tony through the branches stuck between them. The fact that he heard movements right away reassured him. Tony was digging around for his own phone.

"Got it, Boss, let's see if we can't get someone to…….oh, damn."

"No service?" Gibbs asked, already knowing the answer.

"Nope," Tony replied with a sigh.

_Guess that means we'll just have to get inventive_, Gibbs thought. The road they'd just left wasn't exactly a major highway and it was the middle of a snowstorm, but still, cars were bound to drive by at some point. Gibbs figured he'd just have to find a way to signal one of them. Thinking about the supplies they had in the trunk, he was coming up with a plan when a voice came from the other side of the tree.

"Hey Boss?"

"Hm?" Gibbs replied, his mind still partway on a plan.

"Don't you think we should get out? I mean what if the crash caused a spark and there's gas leaking and the car blows up?"

Gibbs shook his head, though he knew Tony couldn't see it.

"DiNozzo that only happens on tv and the last time I checked you and I weren't the stars of some top-rated crime drama. I think we're safe." Gibbs replied.

He heard Tony's soft chuckle.

"What?" Gibbs asked.

"Wouldn't that be awesome? You and me, Gibbs, we'd make the best crime fighting team out there."

"DiNozzo I think you must've hit your head. We DO fight crime, remember? It's kind of our job?"

"I know Boss, that's my point. You're the experienced agent and I'm your trusty and handsome sidekick, the one who gets all the women and…" Tony paused, obviously warming to his idea.

Gibbs had had enough of the story and decided to cut off his agent before he came up with any more scenarios.

"Why don't we just stick with…" Gibbs stopped as he realized that Tony had gone completely silent

"DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked worriedly, wondering if Tony's injuries were worse than the other man had let on originally.

"Um…Gibbs…" Tony started. Unable to put a thought into words he simply pointed straight ahead.

Gibbs may not have been able to see Tony's face that well, but he saw the gesture as the younger man's hand came out of the branches. Gibbs immediately looked out through the windshield but he saw nothing more than the snow outside.

"DiNozzo, what is your prob..."

Gibbs realized that Tony was pointing ahead but not actually into the woods. Instead he was pointing into the rearview mirror. Turning his head to look behind him, Gibbs finally saw what had made his Senior Field Agent completely speechless.

Flames were licking up the backside of the car and only one thought entered Gibbs mind.

_Dammit, I hate it when DiNozzo's right_.


	3. Chapter 3

_Hello all, _

_I am SOOO sorry for the delay but the day after I posted the first two chapters of this story my internet went down at home. It's been down for over a week now and I finally had to use a flash drive and borrow a friend's internet to post these next chapters. _

_The good news is that I have been working hard and this story is nearly finished. For your patience I am giving you all four more chapters. Another one is nearly complete and I figure there will be maybe two more after that. I will post the rest as soon as I can. I promise!_

_Also please forgive any errors in military terms, spelling, etc. Usually I spend time checking on military terms but obviously I couldn't do that this time. I hope there's nothing too glaring. _

_Thanks so much for all the reviews! Before I lost my internet I fully intended to reply to each and every one of you but as I only have limited access right now I figured you'd all prefer I use it to post new chapters instead. :o)_

_Enjoy!_

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Chapter Three

"_GIBBS!"_

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With a shove from his shoulder, Gibbs managed to force his car door open and quickly ran around to the passenger's side. He got a good look at the fire on his way and though the snow surrounding the car was keeping it at bay for the moment, it was still moving faster than he liked.

"C'mon DiNozzo, move it!" Gibbs yelled, yanking on the agent's door and wrenching it open. Since Tony had been the first one to spot the flames, Gibbs was surprised the other man wasn't already out.

Tony's quiet voice reached him as he shoved the door out of the way, crushing the bushes surrounding it.

"Yeah, about that Boss. Not sure…if I can."

Gibbs frowned and was about to start screaming at Tony to move his ass when he got a closer look at the younger man's face. A light sheen of sweat glowed in the moonlight and, even in the near darkness, Gibbs could see his color didn't look good at all.

The shock of the accident had pumped adrenaline into Tony's system. That plus the fact that he'd been sitting unmoving in the car had hidden from both of them just how badly he had been injured.

"What is it?" Gibbs asked.

"I think I broke something….well maybe a few somethings." Tony replied with some chagrin.

"Can you move?" Gibbs asked.

"Not really….." Tony hesitated, obviously embarrassed at being completely helpless. It was not a position he was in often, nor did he enjoy it.

Looking over at the back of the car, Gibbs could see the flames getting closer to where the gas tank was located. It was time to end the conversation.

"Hang on to me, DiNozzo," Gibbs instructed, squatting down and pulling the other man's arms around his neck. Having no idea where Tony was injured, Gibbs was just going to have to pull him out and hope he didn't make anything worse.

Tony gritted his teeth as Gibbs raised his arms, the pain from that simple movement not boding well for what was to come. Sure enough, the instant Gibbs started to lift him out of his seat, agony flared through him. It felt like every single nerve in his body was protesting the maneuver and it was all he could do not to scream.

Gibbs struggled for a few moments until he realized that it wasn't just Tony's dead weight that was making it impossible to budge the other man. Relaxing his grip, he let Tony slide gently back into his seat.

"DiNozzo, you stuck?" Gibbs asked, ducking his head to try and see under the dash in the dark.

Tony didn't answer at first, his body still too wracked with pain to even register that he'd been asked a question.

"What Boss?" he finally responded in a hiss, his eyes still clamped shut.

"I said are you stuck, Tony?" Gibbs asked again.

"Oh…..uh…..yeah, I think I am," Tony replied, surprised that fact had gone unnoticed by him thus far. Getting momentarily scared that maybe his spine was injured and his legs were numb, he quickly remembered the shooting pains in his legs when Gibbs tried to move him.

_Nope, those nerves are working just fine,_ Tony thought remorsefully.

Gibbs reached down and felt where the dash met Tony's legs. During the impact the seat had come forward, and now the younger man was pinned.

"Here, gimme a hand DiNozzo," Gibbs said, putting both hands on the back of Tony's seat and pulling towards the back seat. Biting his lips against the pain it caused, Tony pushed as hard as he could against the dashboard at the same time. The seat didn't budge and they both gave up after a few more tries.

Nervously, Gibbs looked once again to the back of the car and saw the flames getting closer. It wasn't looking good.

Then he got an idea.

"DiNozzo, try the handle," Gibbs instructed, knowing that he'd never be able to get his hands down there. Tony's legs were pinned in too tight, he would have to do it himself.

Tony gave Gibbs a puzzled look, then he nodded suddenly in understanding. Reaching down, he yanked on the handle that adjusted the seat. To his amazement it worked and his legs were free. The seat had only slid forward on its rails, not crushed forward in the crash as they both originally thought.

"Okay, here we go again," Gibbs said. "Hang on."

Once again Tony put his arms around Gibbs' neck and gritted his teeth. The pain was such that, try as he might, he was unable to be completely silent as he was pulled out of the car and dragged away.

Gibbs heard Tony's muffled cries and they tore right through him. He hated hurting the other man but he had to get them out of there. The pain of a few broken bones had to be the trade-off to death in a fiery explosion.

That's what Gibbs' brain said anyway. His heart still had trouble with it. Especially when Tony made one final anguished noise as Gibbs deposited him at the base of a tree, facing him carefully away from the flaming car.

"Sorry Tony," Gibbs said softly, not quite looking at him. Through the haze of pain, Tony looked up in surprise. Gibbs never apologized to anyone. And apologizing to him would get you a quick head slap, along with a speech about how it was a sign of weakness.

Then Tony remembered something Ducky had told him once, the ME having a history with Gibbs that went beyond anyone else on the team. Ducky had said that Gibbs didn't see an apology as a sign of weakness among friends. The smart crack Tony had been about to make about Gibbs disobeying one of his own injunctions died on his lips. He understood what it meant for his boss to say those words and he accepted them gratefully.

"S'okay Gibbs. I'll live, which is definitely worth it," He gave Gibbs his best smile, hoping his boss wouldn't notice how the pain kept it from reaching his eyes. Looking back at the car, he added ruefully. "It's also more than I can say for all the evidence and our case notes."

Following the other man's gaze, Gibbs saw that Tony was right….again. Cursing himself for not thinking of it sooner, took off towards the burning car.

Tony looked up in alarm as Gibbs ran off. He'd never meant for Gibbs to risk his life for the evidence, no matter how important it was.

"Gibbs!" Tony cried out, trying to stop the other man from his crazy quest. It was too late. Gibbs was already at the car, frantically pulling open the back door.

Gibbs heard Tony's warning yell and in true Gibbs style, completely ignored it. He opened the door but didn't bother to try and carry everything. Instead he simply started chucking items over his shoulder as hard as he could. He just hoped that some of it survived the imminent blast, as well as being tossed into the snow.

Gibbs kept at it for as long as he dared, knowing that he was temping fate with each second he stayed near the burning vehicle. After reaching into the backseat one final time and coming up with Tony's backpack, he ran from the car with it in his arms. Heading for the nearest tree, he tried to dive behind it before the flames hit the tank.

It was a smidge too late.

The blast knocked him from behind, throwing Gibbs to the ground in a faceplant into the snow. The shock wave shoved him forward and he skidded across the cold surface like some bizarre version of a human snowplow. He had no chance to stop himself as he slid straight towards the tree that had been his hope for shelter only moments before.

Unable to move from his position, Tony was frantic. Doing his best to ignore his body's protests to every movement he made, he had kept an eye out for Gibbs ever since the other man had run back to the car. He heard a door opening and the sounds of many items hitting the snow. This told the younger agent that Gibbs was throwing everything out of the backseat. Since there were too many items for one man to carry and multiple trips would take too long, Tony marveled at the idea. He wondered if he'd have come up with it himself or simply grabbed as much as he could and ran. Gibbs' way had the distinct advantage of saving more of the evidence.

Of course it also had the distinct disadvantage of keeping him in the car longer and therefore in the line of danger longer.

_C'mon Gibbs_, Tony thought. _Get out of there!_

Then the car blew.

Tony's hands instinctively flew over his face to protect himself from the flaming debris that flew all around him. After the blast was over he waited a few seconds, listening intently for the sound of feet running through the snow, a moan, anything that would tell him his boss was okay.

"Boss?" Tony called out softly. The deathly silence scared him a little, making him reluctant to scream for reasons he couldn't understand.

When his call was met with no answer, he quickly changed tactics.

"Gibbs?!" Tony yelled out into the night. Again he heard nothing but silence.

Now the DiNozzo's had a lot of rules, just like Gibbs did. Things like "DiNozzo's don't cry", "DiNozzo's don't pass out", "DiNozzo's don't marry without a pre-nup", "DiNozzo's don't walk away from equity"; these were all things little Anthony had learned long ago - a small boy trying desperately trying to make his father happy.

One of the many rules Tony had learned was "DiNozzo's don't panic".

He tried, he really did, but for the first time in a long while, Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo started to panic.

"_GIBBS!"_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

"_Attaboy, Tony."_

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"Gibbs!!" Tony yelled one more time. He waited longer for an answer but still nothing could be heard in the darkness, just the sound of blood rushing in his ears from his frantically beating heart.

Feeling helpless, Tony wanted nothing more than to get up and look for Gibbs. His broken body would have nothing of it, not even allowing him to scoot around to the other side of the tree for a better look. Getting inordinately pissed at his inability to do anything useful, he punched a fist into the snow beside him with a frustrated yell.

"Might wanna take it easy there, DiNozzo. Don't want to add a broken hand to the list of your injuries I have to report in my sit rep to the Director."

"Boss?" Tony looked up in surprise to find that Gibbs had somehow materialized out of thin air in front of him.

For a second Tony wondered if the knock to his head had been harder than he thought and now he was hallucinating. There was no way the other man should have survived the blast and yet there he was, standing over Tony like nothing had happened. In fact, other than a new cut on his lip, Gibbs looked none the worst for wear.

"Are you okay?" Tony asked incredulously.

"Yeah I'm fine, how're you doing?" Gibbs asked casually. The man said it as if the two of them had just bumped into each other at a local coffee shop; not having just survived not only a car accident, but an explosion in the past few minutes.

"I'm…..okay," Tony replied with a stammer, still not quite sure what to make of his boss's return from what should have been sure death.

"Good," Gibbs said and smiled slightly. It was the smile that finally put Tony at ease, reassuring him that his boss was okay. If Gibbs was okay then everything was okay. He had that affect on all his agents, Tony included. In fact, he had the affect on Tony probably more than anyone else. No one else on the team had worked with Gibbs longer in the field. The Senior Field Agent trusted Gibbs with his very life, without question.

The fact that Gibbs felt the same about him never even entered Tony's mind.

Reaching over his shoulder, Gibbs took Tony's backpack and placed it on the ground beside his agent.

"Hang tight, I gotta see if anything else survived," Gibbs said and once again before Tony could do or say anything, the other man was gone.

It was slow work, looking for all the items in the dark and snow but on his second run, Gibbs found his flashlight. That sped up his progress and soon he had everything that they'd gathered at the captain's house. Laying everything down at his agent's feet after every trip, Gibbs walked back one final time, dropping the last of it.

Despite the fact that crippling pain had become his new best friend and even breathing hurt, Tony had been keeping himself busy. As Gibbs came back with each new pile of evidence, Tony checked every item over carefully. Looking for breaks in the bags and anything else that might have ruined the integrity of the pieces, he carefully sorted them and put them into the two backpacks they still had, his and Gibbs'. He figured if he was busy he wouldn't notice how much everything hurt.

Unfortunately, it didn't work for long. By the time Gibbs had gone on what would be his last trip, Tony was having a hard time holding the pieces up. He'd begun to shiver and his hands quaked no matter how much he tried to stop them. The pain in his ribs sharpened until the only way he could breath was by taking short breaths, moving his chest as little as possible.

Despite it all, Tony fought hard and by the time Gibbs came back with the last of the evidence, he had managed to sort through everything.

"Good job, Boss," Tony said with a wince, surprised by how much it hurt to talk. The pain that met the comment was sharp, nearly taking away what little breath he had.

"Well, we'll see when we get it all back," Gibbs said, so busy with everything in his arms that he missed Tony's pained expression.

"You get it all sorted?" Gibbs asked, putting the last of it down and straightening up to take one final look at the still burning vehicle.

"Yeah." It was almost a hiss.

Gibbs stopped looking at the car and his eyes flew down to Tony, finally hearing the pain in the other man's voice. Nearly slapping himself in the head for his stupidity, Gibbs realized that he'd been so busy making sure the evidence was okay and he hadn't bothered to check on his agent.

"Where does it hurt, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked quietly, kneeling down beside the other man.

Tony hesitated, ready to tell Gibbs that he was fine; not a problem in the world, in fact. Only he wasn't fine and Gibbs needed to know the truth. Neither of them knew how long they could be out there.

"Mostly my ribs and head, though my leg feels….kinda funny too," Tony replied after a little hesitation.

Gibbs could see that the admission wasn't easy for his Senior Agent. It was just another one of the man's quirks that Gibbs had gotten used to over the years. If Tony got a paper cut the entire office would hear about it for a week but the moment anything serious was wrong, he clammed up. Getting attention was one of Tony's favorite sports, but admitting when he was down - no that didn't come as easy at all.

Nodding in response to Tony's answer, Gibbs leaned forward to get a better idea of his injuries. Before putting a hand on the younger man, Gibbs raised his eyebrows in an unspoken query and received a nod in return, giving him permission.

Not wanting to hurt him any further, Gibbs first looked at the cut on Tony's head, probing gently. Using his flashlight, he checked the other man's pupils as well. Then he very gingerly felt Tony's ribs. Even through the bulky layers of jacket and sweater, Gibbs could tell something wasn't right. The agent's involuntary gasp as he hit an especially touchy spot on the right side confirmed his suspicions.

"Yep," Gibbs said sadly. "At least one broken rib."

Moving his hands down, he felt Tony's leg and didn't need the sounds of pain to inform him of the broken bone there. Hidden in the dark and by the thick fabric of Tony's jeans, neither of them had noticed anything wrong. Once Gibbs laid his hands on it though, the odd angle of the leg told them both all they needed to know.

Sitting back on his heels, Gibbs rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. Tony's head wound wasn't serious and his pupils reacted normally, telling him that there was probably no concussion. The broken ribs he could do nothing about but he knew he was going to have to do something about the leg. If it stayed too long in that position, the circulation could be lost, possibly costing Tony the use of it. He didn't like it but it looked like he was going to have to set it.

"Tony listen…," Gibbs began but the other man was way ahead of him.

"Yeah Boss, I know. You're gonna have to fix my leg. Well I guess we should get it over with then, huh?" Tony said too quickly - too cheerfully. Inside his gut wrenched at the thought of more pain but he wasn't about to show that to his boss.

Gibbs nodded his approval of the other man's bravado, knowing that if their places were switched he'd be doing the same thing. It would make the next process easier.

Looking around, Gibbs found two branches to use as a splint. Rifling through everything he had pulled out of the car, he managed to find a spare shirt in Tony's bag. Quickly shredding it, he made bandages to tie around the branches when he was ready.

Putting everything within easy reach to make the whole procedure go as fast as possible, Gibbs knelt down again. He didn't bother to say anything. There was really nothing to say. Looking down at his agent, their eyes met and then Tony gave him another nod, once again giving his boss permission to do what he needed to do.

With firm but gentle hands, Gibbs felt for the unmatched bones in Tony's lower leg. Palpating lightly, he found the spot where the two pieces had been torn apart. He'd once helped a Corpsman to set broken bones after a Humvee had flipped in the field. Unfortunately the Corpsman had been one of the fallen, his arm hanging useless at his side. Gibbs had set two broken legs and one broken arm that day before help had finally arrived, being one of the few to get out of the wreck mostly unscathed.

Now he thanked God that he'd had that experience. Thinking back to what the Corpsman had told him, he figured out exactly how much pressure to use and at what angle he would need to pull. Pausing a moment, Gibbs then took a deep breath. Any slip of his hands and the younger man would be worse off, not to mention in tremendous agony. Gibbs didn't want to screw up and said a silent prayer to get it right, the first time.

Tony gritted his teeth as Gibb's hands slid lightly along his leg. His own first aid training, as well as a couple broken bones in his life, telling him exactly what the other man was doing and why. When Gibbs' hands stopped, Tony knew what was to come next and he closed his eyes. Doing his best to breath deeply, he waited for the inevitable.

With a mighty pull and twist, Gibbs put Tony's leg back in place. He kept his head down so he didn't have to see Tony's face, though that did nothing to block out the other man's gasps.

Tony squeezed his eyes so tight, he thought they would bore their way through the back of his skull. The pain was so intense there were no words to describe it. Screaming wasn't even an option, his body in too much shock to make any noise. It was like a bête noir, where the scary monster comes at you and you try to scream but nothing comes out. Only gasps made their way from his clenched jaw as Gibbs finished quickly, tying the splint on tightly to hold the fixed bones in place.

When it was done both men took a minute to breath. Only then did Gibbs raise his head to look at Tony, watching as the other man, his eyes still closed and panting a little, slowly relaxed as the pain eased off to a more bearable level.

When the world came back into focus, Tony looked up to find Gibbs watching him quietly. He smiled reassuringly, swallowing hard to control the shaking in his body and trying to keep it out of his voice.

"I'm okay Boss."

Gibbs smiled back with more than a little pride in his eyes for his agent, putting a hand on Tony's shoulder and giving it a squeeze. He didn't know many men who could take what Tony just had with a smile.

"Attaboy, Tony."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

"_It appears that both Agent Gibbs and Agent DiNozzo are missing."_

---

Abby Sciuto clomped into the bullpen on her platform boots, ponytails swinging and humming cheerfully. She carried a piece of paper in one hand and nothing in the other. She soon hoped to have her empty hand filled with a nice big Caf-Pow once she reported her findings. As she rounded the corner, she opened her mouth to tell Gibbs what she'd discovered on the latest lead he'd given her the night before. Then she stopped in her tracks.

Gibbs wasn't at his desk.

"Where's Gibbs?" she asked McGee and Ziva. Both of the agents had just arrived and were getting settled at their desks. Ziva was busy taking her gun out of its holster and securing it in a drawer while McGee was booting up his computer.

"Not here yet," McGee replied, running his fingers over his keyboard even though the computer wasn't quite up yet, like a child in happy anticipation of playing with a new toy. Or as if he were warming up his fingers, like a runner stretching his legs before a run.

"Not here yet? Whattya mean not here yet?" Abby said, furrowing her brows and frowning slightly. "Gibbs is always here when I find something. He's always here first too. You two never get here before he does."

"That is not entirely true," Ziva replied reasonably. "There have been many times where we have arrived first. I am sure he will be here any minute."

Abby scrunched up her already frowning lips and furrowed her brow further. She knew that Ziva was right but she didn't like it. Gibbs always seemed to have a knack for knowing when she found something. Not to have him appear in her lab the moment she'd made her current discovery had been hinky. Then to come all the way down to his desk and still not see him?

Definitely hinky.

Looking around, Abby saw the other empty desk. For some reason her tummy didn't like that neither Tony nor Gibbs were there. Not that she didn't like or trust both Ziva and McGee, she liked and trusted them both. Gibbs was their leader though and Tony….well Tony was Tony and she liked him there if Gibbs wasn't. When Gibbs had left for a little while a few years ago, Tony had been there instead and that had been okay. She didn't like it when both of them were gone.

Her tummy was not happy.

"What about Tony? Have you guys seen him yet?" She asked, pointing at his desk accusingly, daring them to tell her that he wasn't missing, that something wasn't wrong.

"No but that doesn't mean anything, Abs. Tony's not exactly known for being on time," McGee replied He had started reading his emails, looking for replies from the feelers he'd put out on the case the previous night. He and Ziva had stayed until almost midnight following up on leads while Gibbs and DiNozzo had gone to search the suspect's house. Gibbs had told them to leave at a reasonable hour but knowing that their boss and senior field agent would be out most of the night, they had both stayed late, getting as much done as they could. When some members of the team worked late, they all worked late. Going home early when two of their teammates would be out until all hours hadn't been an option in their minds.

Still holding her paper, Abby seemed lost for a second. Looking first at Tony's desk and then back at Gibbs', turning herself in a circle as she looked back and forth for nearly a full minute, mumbling under breath.

"Abby?" McGee looked up when he realized the forensic scientist was still in their midst. "Is everything okay?"

"Okay?" Abby looked like she didn't understand the question. "No, I don't think so. Something's not okay only…..I'm not sure what it is."

"Does it have something to do with the evidence?" Ziva asked helpfully.

"No."

"The captain's computer?" McGee asked.

"No."

"What then?" Ziva asked.

Instead of answering, Abby turned her attention to the Mossad Officer. "When was the last time you saw Gibbs?"

Ziva frowned thoughtfully and looked over at McGee. "Last night, he and Tony went to search the captain's house." McGee nodded in confirmation.

"Tony went with him?"

"Yes, why?"

"And now neither of them are here?"

"Well no but…."

"No buts! No buts!" Abby cried suddenly, shaking a fist at her side and stamping her booted feet like a small child. "I think something's wrong."

"Abby, don't worry. I'm sure they're both fine," McGee replied.

Watching her for a second, McGee wasn't sure if he believed that himself. Something in Abby's attitude made him pick up his phone. He quickly checked for any messages from either of his colleagues. Finding none he decided to dial Tony's number. He wouldn't dare call the boss to find out where he was but McGee didn't have any problem disturbing Tony. Maybe once Abby heard that Tony was okay, she'd calm down.

"I'll just call Tony, okay Abs? I'm sure he's gonna pick up and then two seconds later probably walk in the door and smack me on the head for calling him," McGee said reassuringly.

Abby walked over to McGee's desk. Not able to keep still, she pulled on her spiked cuffs nervously, watching as he listened to the phone ring. Finally the voicemail picked up and McGee left a simple message, just asking Tony to report in when he could.

When McGee hung up the phone, Abby's face became more worried. Before she had a chance to say anything else, Director Vance appeared from the elevator.

Walking into the area, he noted Gibbs' empty desk and turned to McGee.

"When Gibbs gets in tell him I need to see him immediately in my office," Vance said, turning to head up the stairs, his thoughts already on the duties he had to do that day.

"Um….okay Director," McGee said.

The hesitation in the agent's voice turned the Director around on a dime. Walking up to McGee's desk he looked down at the younger man with a frown.

"Something wrong, Special Agent McGee?"

"No sir, uh….it's just that…well, we're not quite sure where Gibbs is at the moment." He finished in a rush.

"What do you mean you're not quite sure where he is?"

"He and agent DiNozzo went to search the captain's house last night and now neither of them are here."

"Well have you tried calling them?" Vance asked slowly, as if talking to a five year old.

"I uh….well I tried Tony and he's not answering and…"

"Neither is Gibbs," Ziva spoke up, quietly hanging up the phone that no one had seen her pick up and dial.

Vance turned immediately to her. "What?"

"I just tried Gibbs' phone and he is not answering either."

"What exactly does that mean Officer David? Do we know where the two of them are, or not?"

Ziva and McGee looked at each other. At this point they had nothing more than the fact that both Gibbs and Tony were a few minutes late to work and weren't answering their phones. That could mean almost anything and none of it necessarily bad. Telling the Director that there was a situation would put the whole team, if not all of NCIS, on alert. If there wasn't really anything wrong, it would be their hides on the line for setting a false alarm.

Still, something wasn't right. They both knew it. They had worked with Gibbs for too long not to trust their guts and right now both of their guts were churning.

Watching everything unfold in front of her. Abby stood by nervously, wanting desperately to say something but knowing that she shouldn't. No one would believe (or care) that her tummy was rumbling and not in a good way. Her tummy wasn't the same as Gibbs' gut, well except that it was. Abby still remembered all too well the dream she had the night before Kate died – Tony's face covered in blood. It had left her sick and worried for Tony. She had no way of knowing then that the blood would turn out to be Kate's and it would be her other friend she'd lose that day.

Abby may not have had a dream this time but she still knew something was wrong. She knew she couldn't say anything, she wasn't an agent. It had to come from Ziva or McGee. Abby just hoped that they too realized that something was wrong. Very, very, very wrong.

"No Director, we do not know where they are." Ziva finally answered the Director's question, turning to look at him.

"It appears that both Agent Gibbs and Agent DiNozzo are missing."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

"_He looks for a short cut." _

----

As the sun rose over the surrounding mountains, Gibbs put another one of the dry branches he'd managed to scrounge up onto the fire. Between going out to the road every few minutes to check for the sounds of cars while testing the cell phones for a signal, and tending to the fire, he hadn't slept at all during but at least he'd stayed warm. The snow had continued all night, letting up finally just before down.

Not having the luxury of movement like his boss, Tony's shivers had gotten worse and worse throughout the night. Fearful of hypothermia, Gibbs had first spread out a set of bright orange NCIS coveralls he'd found, carefully moving Tony on top of them to give him a dry place to lie. Then he covered the other man in what little spare clothing he'd been able to find in the bags recovered from the car. As a final resort, he'd even dumped the evidence out of the backpacks and draped them over Tony's legs.

Tony had refused Gbbs' coat though.

"No way Boss," he'd said through chattering teeth. "Then we'll both be in trouble. Your coat isn't going to make that much difference for me but without it you'll freeze. Don't even think about it."

Gibbs had frowned, knowing the other man was right but not sure what to do next. Neither of them smoked so they had no lighters or matches._ I think I'm going to add a new rule – always carry a lighter_, Gibbs thought.

Tony had looked almost longingly at the still smoldering car.

"Well Gibbs, I'm glad I wasn't in there when it went up. Then again, if I had at least I'd be warm right now," he said with a soft chuckle, his jaw shaking slightly with cold.

Gibbs had just shook his head, knowing Tony was mostly talking to keep himself awake and warm. He'd been spouting off ridiculous comments nonstop in the couple of hours that had passed since Gibbs had set his leg. Gibbs let him do it, knowing it was probably helping him a little.

Gibbs had followed Tony's eyes over to the car, watching the smoke rise from it. He tried not to think about what would have happened if he hadn't gotten Tony out in time. He thought of the fireball the car had become, the flames fueled by the large gas tank in the back.

The gas tank.

The flames.

Suddenly Gibbs tipped back his head and smiled.

"DiNozzo, I knew there was a reason I kept you around," he said and quickly walked away.

The younger man looked up in surprise and watched his boss walk out of sight into the dark.

"What?"

Tony looked around for a few seconds but as he could hear his boss stomping through the snow nearby, he hadn't been too worried. A couple minutes had gone by when the footsteps got closer. Tony looked up just in time to see a flame come around the tree towards him in the dark.

"What the..?" Before he could say anything further, the flame lowered and behind it was Gibbs' face.

"Good idea DiNozzo." Gibbs said. Going back to the car he'd found the driest branch he could. Dipping it into what was left of the gas tank, he put it in the fire until he had a nice torch going. Gathering up other wood that had been dried in the explosion, he dug a hole in the snow with his foot and made a pile. Adding the torch, he soon had a nice fire going and after the snow had stopped, he had begun to feel confident that they would at least survive the night.

----

Gibbs studied the sun rising through the trees and thought about his confidence earlier. Truthfully he hadn't been exactly wrong. The two of them had survived the cold night easily. The only trouble was that not one car had come along the entire time. It was hard for Gibbs to believe that no one would be travelling through the area and he was now suspicious of a road closure at the base of the mountain. The snow may have stopped but before it did it had left a couple feet on the road. Who knew when the plows would be all the way up to their location?

Mindful of dying cell phone batteries, Gibbs had turned both of them off. Every five minutes he turned one on for one minute, alternating between the two. He still hadn't gotten a signal but was hopeful that maybe he would. Knowing that if he did, Abby would be able to find their location. With no cars coming, it was the only thing they could do.

It was looking to be a long day. Gibbs hoped that it didn't turn into another long night. After all, they had survived one night but could they really survive another? What he was really asking himself was, could Tony survive another?

Gibbs hadn't wanted to believe it at first, his agent being quick to shrug off his injuries and doing nothing but chatting almost happily the entire night. The boss wasn't fooled though. His quick ears heard the longer pauses between sentences, the hesitations, the extra coughs here and there. Tony was doing his damndest to hide it but he was going down. A few broken bones weren't life threatening but when you added in the exposure and the untreated shock, then things got interesting.

Gibbs didn't like it when things got interesting.

Tony coughed again, bringing Gibbs roughly back to the present. He looked down at his senior agent, studying the other man closely. He saw the shortened breaths and knew Tony's broken rib was to blame. Gibbs also knew that the longer Tony took shorter breaths, the more his risk rose for pneumonia. Shallow breathing allowed fluid to build in the lungs. The fact that Tony had beaten the plague only a couple years before meant that his lungs were scarred. Ducky had once told Gibbs that it would always mean that Tony would have to be careful.

Out in the cold all night fighting off injuries definitely didn't count as careful.

---

"What have you got?" Leon asked, walking into the bullpen.

After two hours of calling anyone and everyone they could think of, the team wasn't any closer to finding their two missing members. McGee had called the witnesses they had questioned about the murder. Two of them were neighbors of the suspect and had in fact noticed the dark sedan parked in front of the home the previous night. Both had reported seeing it leave after about an hour, confirming that two men had been seen driving away.

Ziva checked all local hotels and motels. Gibbs and Tony could have opted to stay overnight, either out of exhaustion or to continue the investigation further. So far she had had no luck as none in the area had spotted the sedan or reported checking in any federal agents.

Vance had contacted other law enforcement teams, asking about accidents, road conditions, etc. He too had come up empty handed. For though the snow had been heavy, all major highways had remained open throughout the night. Of the accidents that had been reported on those highways, none matched the description of the missing vehicle nor had any of the victims matched the description of either Tony or Gibbs.

Abby had gone back to her lab and immediately started traces on the GPSs on Gibbs' and Tony's phones. She couldn't get a signal from either. That meant that either the phones were off, out of power or out of range. Not willing to give up easily, she started working on a program to increase the range of her search. She knew full well that if the phones were turned off or out of power she'd still get nothing but she tried anyway. If in the off chance that they were out of service area, she might be able to catch a reading. Besides, she couldn't just sit still. Sitting still gave her too much time to think and that was definitely a bad thing. Keeping her fingers and her mind busy was the best thing she could do, so she did just that. Her fingers flying across the keys.

McGee looked up at the Director and shook his head sadly.

"So far, nothing. No hits on the BOLO for the car, nothing on any hotels nearby and the last person who saw them said they left the suspect's house at approximately eleven pm last night. After that they just…….disappeared."

"No one just disappears McGee," Vance replied sharply, pulling the toothpick out of his mouth and glaring at the younger agent.

"Of course not sir, but…"

"Tony and Gibbs appear to have." Ziva finished, coming to McGee's aid. All of them were still getting used to the new Director. In some ways he still felt like an outsider to the team and none of them liked it when an outsider messed with one of them, even if the outsider in question was the Director. Doing that would get the whole team on you, and fast. Ziva reacted instinctively, not liking the way Vance was speaking to her co-worker and friend.

"So what are we going to do about it people?" Vance asked both of them.

Ziva and McGee looked at each other, both of them fighting the rising panic they each felt inside. Neither would ever admit to it but they were both scared for their boss, their partner…their friends.

McGee stood up suddenly, walking over to the large plasma screen in the middle of the room. Taking out a remote he flipped it on just as Ziva joined him. She didn't know what he had in mind but anything was better than sitting at her desk. She waited patiently as he used the remote to pull up a map. Zooming it in, McGee pointed to a red circle.

"This is where Tony and Gibbs were last seen."

"And this is the route they should have taken back here," Ziva added, tracing a line along the map. With a click of a button, McGee highlighted the route in yellow.

"Yeah but I've checked with every other agency from the Highway Patrol all the way down to the Coast Guard. None of those roads were closed last night and none of the accidents involved their car." Vance said, coming up to stand behind them.

"So why is it that they drove away from here," McGee pointed at the original circle. "But didn't arrive here, despite driving along that route?"

"Because they didn't, my dear boy." Said a voice suddenly.

All three turned around at the voice and saw Ducky standing behind them, studying the map carefully.

"What do you mean, Dr. Mallard?" Vance asked.

"Does anyone here know what was going on in that area last night?" Ducky pointed just south of the red circle which marked the last place Tony and Gibbs had been seen. Receiving nothing but blank looks, he sighed.

"A rather large football game. Of course why you Yanks insist on calling it football when you don't use your feet is beyond…."

"Dr. Mallard," Vance said quietly.

"Right, of course. I apologize. My point is that the game let out very late last night, I heard about nothing but that on my way in this morning. There was overtime or some such nonsense and it went on for quite some time. It finally ended at around ten thirty, right about the time that Jethro and Tony would have been leaving their location."

"But Ducky, what has that got to do with…." McGee began.

"Surely you all must know how much Gibbs hates traffic."

McGee and Ziva nodded ruefully, having been in the car with him on a number of occasions when the traffic had been bad. Only Tony seemed to hate traffic more than Gibbs, though sometimes it was hard to tell exactly who hated it more.

"Well then, you must also know what he does when he finds it." Ducky said with a slight smile, waiting for them to come to the conclusion he already had.

McGee and Ziva looked at each other, recognition dawning as they replied in unison.

"He looks for a short cut."


	7. Chapter 7

_Hello all, _

_My internet is back! Woohoo! This story is really close to being done. I expect 2, maybe 3 more chapters. I'm going to a Supernatural convention next weekend and I promise (pinky swear!) that it will be done before I leave. _

_Thanks so much for all the wonderful reviews, you guys have made my week. :o)_

_So here are the next two chapters….enjoy!_

_-Moki_

Chapter Seven

…_.and I'll be damned if I'm gonna lose him too._

----

After Ducky gave them the extra clue they needed, everyone on the team went to work. Though as it turned out, trying to figure out where Gibbs could have gone was harder than it seemed.

The first instinct had been for all of them to jump into cars and start looking for the missing agents themselves but they all knew that wouldn't work. The team had to narrow down the search, otherwise they could waste hours, if not days, looking for Tony and Gibbs in the wrong place. So as hard as it was for them to do, they all continued their exhaustive research.

"I don't understand," Vance said mostly to himself and not really expecting an answer, walking into the bullpen as he had about every ten minutes for the past hour. "where would he go?"

Vance had called all the same sister agencies as before and though he expanded the search area to include roads not exactly on the route back to NCIS from the captain's house, it still had gotten him nowhere. Once again he'd been told that no accidents had occurred with any vehicles matching the sedan, nor with any victims matching Gibbs and DiNozzo.

McGee just shook his head and kept working as the Director walked out of the bullpen, heading to MTAC once again.

As he resumed his research, McGee caught Ziva's sly smile to herself as she quickly typed with one hand, busy talking in a language McGee didn't even recognize into the phone at the same time. He didn't think her foreign contacts could be of much help in a case like this but he'd long ago learned not to underestimate the Israeli.

McGee and Ziva were aware that when Gibbs didn't want to get stuck in traffic, he'd go just about anywhere to avoid it. Sometimes even going so far as to go miles out of his way, taking roads that weren't even roads by any normal definition. Cutting through a grassy field was not beyond the realm of possibility when their boss was determined to get somewhere.

In fact Tony had been heard to comment (when he was well out of head slap range of course) that Gibbs' shortcuts were hardly that.

"I think we should start calling them _'long_ cuts'," he'd remarked after one particularly grueling drive back to the base. At one point that day the car had ended up in a stream. Not going across it, but actually _in_ it. Gibbs had carefully maneuvered the vehicle into the shallow water upon finding his way blocked by dense woods. Tony had been the only one in the car and had come back to the office with a harrowing tale of the two of them driving through the water for more than a mile before Gibbs had found a different way out.

Gibbs had still managed to beat both Ziva and McGee in the other sedan and Ducky and Palmer in the van back to the base, as Tony had been quick to point out.

Now they were all working as hard as they could to figure out where the boss would have gone when he found his path on the highway blocked by thousands of football fans.

"This route is clear."

Ziva and McGee looked up in surprise to find Ducky standing at the map, pointing to one of the alternate routes they'd marked as a possible Gibbs "long cut". He turned around to find both of their shocked faces staring at him.

"I know I may not be a Field Agent but I am an investigator of sorts," Ducky said, holding up a finger with a smile. "A Medical Examiner must look at facts and come to conclusions, much as you do. I simply use the body to give me all the evidence I need."

"Of course Ducky," McGee said. "We didn't mean to imply that you weren't an investigator, but how exactly did you know that the road was clear?"

"Did a body tell you?" Ziva asked with a wicked grin.

Ducky chuckled.

"Not quite. Though that would be interesting, wouldn't it? No I'm afraid it came from a much more mundane source than that."

McGee and Ziva both raised their eyebrows in matching quizzical expressions.

"I found a local traffic site online," Ducky admitted sheepishly.

"Good work, Dr. Mallard" Vance said, coming back around down the stairs from MTAC. "At least that's one less road to check. We're still batting zero with all the other agencies."

"Well that's one down but that leaves about ten more possibilities to go…." McGee said and they all looked at the map dejectedly.

--------------------------

"Here Tony, take another sip," Gibbs said kindly, holding the water bottle up to the other man's lips.

Tony opened his mouth and took a judicious swallow but as soon as the liquid was halfway down his throat he coughed hard, bringing it all back up onto the two of them and nearly knocking the bottle out of Gibbs' hand as his body pitched forward uncontrollably.

"I swear Boss…… I didn't do that….on purpose," Tony managed to croak out between the explosions from his chest.

Gibbs nodded. "Yeah I know you didn't. Because if you had I would've smacked you from here to Norfolk."

"So Boss, you have…. any luck….. with the cell phones?" Tony asked, putting a hand on his chest as if trying to calm the beast inside it.

Gibbs shook his head. "Nope."

"So we're screwed."

Gibbs harrumphed, his head tipping towards his agent sitting on the ground.

"I thought I trained you better than that, DiNozzo. You're with a Marine, remember? Marines don't give up and I'm sure as hell not."

Tony knew it was only a matter of time before the team came looking for them but the question was, would they be able find them out there in the middle of nowhere?

"So are you sorry now that…. .. you took that shortcut?" Tony asked with a slight grin, speaking softly as he slowly caught his breath again.

"No, but I am sorry that you made me crash the car." Gibbs replied with a grin of his own, goading his agent on purpose. After all, a fighting Tony was a stronger Tony.

"What?" Tony acted affronted. "I didn't…." he paused as, speaking more loudly than he intended, he coughed thickly. Wrapping an arm tighter around his ribs at the pain it caused, he continued. "….bump into you once."

"Yeah well, let's just say that your ass in my face was a bit of a distraction."

"I get that a lot."

Gibbs smiled and then was thoughtful for a minute. It didn't take much for Tony to read him. The two of them could read each other like open books and right now Gibbs was coming in loud and clear as a book on tape.

"They're not gonna find us, are they Boss?" It was so soft that Gibbs barely heard it.

Putting a hand on Tony's shoulder, Gibbs tried to ignore the shivering he felt in the other man's body. "They'll find us. That's my team, remember? My team is the best there is. Don't you forget that."

Afraid that more talking would bring on yet more coughing, Tony only smiled in return and allowed himself to be reassured like a youngster being told that there really were no monsters in the closet. Tony also didn't miss the fact that Gibbs had silently included him in the remark about the team being the best.

Laying his head back against the trunk of the tree that had been his home away from home for the past 14 hours, Tony tried to breath slowly and rest. Keeping his breathing regular helped the pain in his ribs and chest. It didn't do much for the pounding in his skull or the cold ache from his broken leg but he took the little victories where he could.

Gibbs put the lid back on the water bottle, glad that he hadn't dropped it when Tony had knocked into him. Gibbs had only found the one bottle in all their things and there was now precious little left. The other bottles had been in the trunk, along with some other important items they could've used, like the First Aid kit. He could've made a better splint from the supplies in it and maybe bandaged Tony's head wound. As it was, they'd just had to do without it.

It hadn't slipped Gibbs' attention that Tony's coughing was getting even worse. It had been all Gibbs could do to get a few sips of water down the other man's throat. Not wanting to add dehydration to the list of Tony's ailments, he'd hoped his agent would have been able to get more down.

Putting the bottle down, Gibbs reached into his right pocket for Tony's cell phone. Just as he had for the past few hours, he walked to the highest point he could find nearby and turned it on. Walking around in a circle, he watched the screen like a hawk, hoping to see the reassuring sign of the bars shooting upwards, indicating a signal.

Once again, he was disappointed and after counting out exactly one minute, he turned it back off. Putting Tony's phone back into his right pocket, he quickly patted his left pocket, assuring himself that his cell phone was there. In a little while he would do the same with his phone….he hoped. The last time he'd turned on his own phone, the battery had been terribly low. There was a good chance that the next time he tried, it would be dead.

That would leave them with just one phone and still no signal.

Gibbs walked back to Tony's position under the tree. The other man's head was tipped back against the bark, his eyes closed but looking anything but relaxed. On the contrary, his forehead was furrowed, lips pursed together as he concentrated on every breath.

The Senior Agent didn't want to admit it to himself and he'd never tell Tony, but he wasn't sure how much longer the other man was going to hang on like that. Every instinct told him that he had to do something to get them out of there. Sitting around waiting wasn't his style at all but with Tony in his current condition Gibbs knew he could never leave him alone. So as much as he hated it Gibbs was forced to wait. Right then it was the only thing he could do to ensure that he didn't lose another one of his agents.

And as much as losing Kate had hurt, Gibbs wasn't sure what he'd do if he ever lost DiNozzo.

He knew that some people thought he treated Tony like a kid, maybe even a son. Gibbs didn't necessarily see Tony as a son, though. Sometimes he was more like a little brother. A pain in the ass little brother that you constantly had to get out of trouble and made you want to smack him. A lot. Under all that that though was the little brother that you loved and would trust with your life to have your back. Tony had been with Gibbs for over seven years, longer than any other agent he'd ever had as a Probie.

_God, Tony had been the most annoying Probie_. Gibbs thought, smiling briefly as he thought of those early days.

He had found DiNozzo when the other man had been a young detective in Baltimore. Their paths had crossed on a case. Much like it had happened with Kate, Gibbs had known immediately there was something about the kid. Something that he'd wanted on his team. DiNozzo had had one hell of an attitude but when things got out of hand while serving a warrant, he had snapped into instant action. He also hadn't been afraid to give his superiors on the force a piece of his mind when they disagreed with his observations of the case. A lesser man may have backed down but Tony never had. Gibbs watched as the senior officers found themselves surprised that their junior detective's hunch had been right. Gibbs had known all along where the case would lead and simply waited to see if the young man would see the same things he had.

The fact that Tony had seen what others had not, stood his ground when everyone around him had disagreed _and_ held his own in a massive firefight……oh yeah, Gibbs had wanted him on his team. Bad.

Gibbs hadn't said anything during the case, just worked alongside the sister agency as he'd been ordered to do by the Director. When all had been said and done, he found the younger man walking to his car. It had been Gibbs' last night in town and walking over quietly, he had handed the young detective his card.

"You ever find yourself looking for a job, you come see me," Gibbs said.

Tony had looked at the card in surprise, then smiled. "You know, I just may take you up on that some day."

"Well if you do you should know something."

"What?"

"I don't put up with crap from my Probies. You come work for me and you better expect to work…..hard."

"I think I can handle that."

"Good."

Tony and Gibbs had shaken hands and Gibbs had driven back to NCIS. Two weeks later he found himself training a new Probie. One who would require more head slaps than any of his others put together.

Now it felt like Tony had always been there. Gibbs didn't want to imagine what life would be like without him. He'd lost too many people….

Gibbs looked down at the man resting against the tree. In some ways Tony hadn't changed at all from that kid he'd taken off the streets. In other ways, he'd changed a lot. Truth was Tony was a man now and Gibbs didn't hand that title out easily.

…_.and I'll be damned if I'm gonna lose him too._


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

"_Tell them yourself Tony."_

---

"Alright people, what have we got?" Vance asked, leaning against Gibbs' empty desk and pulling the ever present toothpick out of his mouth.

"Based on reports we've received from the highway patrol, we have narrowed it down to three possible routes. All of which have been closed since the snow fall started late yesterday afternoon." McGee replied, pointing to the map and indicating three separate roads that Gibbs and Tony could have travelled on the night before.

"Isn't this one a bit far?" Vance asked, pointing at one that seemed really out of the way.

"Which is precisely why you should check it first."

Everyone in the bullpen, including Ducky and Palmer (who had no bodies that were awaiting autopsy and wanted to help), turned to find Abby standing behind them.

"Why do you say that, Abby?" Ziva asked, walking around to look at the map closely.

"Gibbs hates traffic. He hates dealing with lots of people on the road. We all know that. He was looking for a road where no one was. One where he could drive as fast as he wanted."

While her program was still trying to get signals from the cell phones, Abby had been studying maps in her lab. As she had looked at the different routes, Abby tried to put herself into Gibbs' head. Not an easy task but then again she knew Gibbs better than almost anyone. She and Gibbs shared a special bond and other than Ducky, she had known him the longest. Abby may not be an agent on his team but she still worked with him every day.

So as she stood looking at the map in her lab, she closed her eyes tightly and tried to put herself into Gibbs' mind. What would he have done? Where would he have gone?

When Abby opened her eyes again one road showed itself as clear as day and now she showed it to the rest of the team, completely confident in her choice. As confident as she'd been earlier when she had been absolutely certain that Gibbs and Tony were missing.

"_This_ is that road," Abby said, pointing to the line in front of her.

"But Abs," McGee began. "That one is really out of the way. I think it's more likely that they were on this one." He pointed at a route farther down.

"Nope. That's not it. Gibbs wouldn't like that one. Too many exits. All the locals from the football game would have known about it too. He picked the one that no one would want to drive on and I'm telling you, he did it on purpose."

Maybe it was because Abby had been the first one to sense that something was wrong earlier. Maybe it was because they all remembered her feelings before Kate died. Whatever it was suddenly everyone found themselves walking forward to study the map.

Without a word they all seemed to decide that Abby's choice was where they would concentrate their search. Though now that they had picked a location it didn't necessarily mean it was all over. The road was miles and miles long and twisted and turned its way over an entire mountain.

It had gone unspoken all day but everyone was certain now that Gibbs and Tony had been in an accident. Their car may be in a ditch, hidden by trees and snow. The search was not going to be easy.

With no time to waste, McGee and Ziva started by calling in for emergency search and rescue teams. Vance called on his contacts in the city and got a few snow plows dispatched.

Meanwhile Abby went with Ducky and Palmer to help them load up the van with supplies. Being a medical doctor, Ducky was allowed to keep supplies on hand for emergencies. He had some very good contacts in local hospitals and had almost everything that could be found in an ambulance. He and Palmer had every intention of joining the search and if they came upon Gibbs and Tony first, they'd be able to help as much as any EMT. If not more, seeing as Ducky was an actual doctor and would be able to give care that a rescue team wouldn't.

Once all the calls had been made, they split up into three vehicles. Abby had stomped her feet until she'd been allowed to join McGee and Ziva in one car, dragging a computer with her so that she could continue to try and get a trace on Tony or Gibbs' cell phones. Director Vance took another agent with him in another car, leaving Ducky and Palmer in the van.

The caravan set out from the NCIS parking lot just as the sun was setting, all of them hoping beyond hope that they weren't too late.

-------------------

Walking back from his perch atop the nearest hill after trying Tony's cell phone again ( as Gibb's phone was indeed dead now), Gibbs was shocked at the sight that met his eyes.

He'd only been away for a few minutes but Tony had deteriorated so much in that time that it seemed like he'd been gone for hours. He found his agent gasping for air, his body heaving for every breath. Trotting the last few feet, Gibbs flung himself to his knees (ignoring the pain in his bad one) and put a hand on Tony's shoulder.

"Hey DiNozzo, can you hear me?"

Tony's eyes opened, though his labored breathing continued, causing Gibbs' hand to rock silently with the motion of his body.

One look into Tony's eyes and Gibbs could see that he was fighting hard, but it was only making things worse.

"Tony, stop fighting it," Gibbs said softly. He may have been scared to death of Tony not waking up but Gibbs couldn't stand to watch him battle any longer. Maybe if he went down it would give his body a chance to recoup a little.

"No way....Boss......DiNozzo's...DON'T....pass out." Tony said, his face fierce.

It was then that Gibbs realized that the fight going on with the other man wasn't just happening right then, there on that mountain. Tony was fighting one of his father's many injunctions, forced upon a young impressionable boy by a drunk. A man that (in Gibbs' opinion) should never have been aloud around a child, let alone fathering one.

As far as Gibbs could tell, Tony's father hadn't ever done a single thing to help his son, just ridiculed and belittled him at every turn. And now, with his life on the line, Tony's father was once again hindering, not helping.

_I swear if I ever get my hands on that man…_ Gibbs thought bitterly.

"Hey," Gibbs said forcefully, giving Tony a slight shake. "You're not passing out, okay?"

It was a lie. Of course Tony was passing out. Gibbs had to put another spin on it, had to give it another name. He had to make Tony believe that he wasn't disobeying an old rule that should never have been forced on him in the first place. If he didn't, he might lose his best agent, the man he trusted most on his team. His friend.

Tony's head rocked up and down with each breath, his chest heaving as he struggled to gather enough oxygen into his lungs to speak.

"I'm....not?" Tony looked up and in his face Gibbs saw the little boy looking desperately for his father's approval. A little boy who had done everything he'd ever been asked, including quite literally hauling around crap, hoping to be noticed, hoping not to be forgotten as he had been so many times before. It was the same little boy who, after being left alone and forgotten for a day in a hotel room, didn't cry and whine but instead watched movies and ordered room service. When life gave him lemons, little Tony made lemonade (and charged it to his father).

Those green eyes staring at him cut through Gibbs and suddenly he wanted to do whatever he could to reassure the little boy they once belonged to that he wasn't "bad"; that he wasn't doing something wrong, or something to be punished.

"No, DiNozzo," Gibbs said reassuringly. "You're exhausted. You haven't slept all night. Your body is shutting down to conserve oxygen and heat. That's NOT the same thing as passing out. You need to listen to it."

"Listen......to........it?"

"Yes. Just let it happen. I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere. I'll be right here when you wake up too, you hear me? So go to sleep, okay?"

Tony was silent for a few moments, the only sound the wheeze of air in and out of his chest.

"Boss…..I'm scared…..really scared," it took more effort for Tony to admit that than it did to draw breath. His words were coming in short blasts now, unable to get them out from his destroyed lungs.

"I know, Tony. I know. It's okay. I'm not leaving you. Once you're out, your body will be able to regulate its breathing much better. Don't fight it. You're not dying. I promise," Gibbs said reassuringly, still holding on to Tony's shoulder

"But people die….from….shock….everyday Gibbs," Tony shook his head in disagreement, still too afraid to stop fighting.

"Do me a favor," Tony continued before Gibbs could stop him. "….tell Ziva I'll miss her….she was….a great partner….tell McGee he's a good agent and…..I didn't mean it when…..I teased him….tell Ducky I loved all his stories…..especially the one….about the….Polynesian stripper…...tell Abby she's the best…..little sister….I never had…and…"

"Hey! DiNozzo," Gibbs interrupted, giving Tony's shoulder another shake. "What have I told you about dying?"

"That….I'm not….allowed….. on your watch?"

"That's right, Special Agent DiNozzo. Are you telling me you're going to disobey a direct order?"

"No Boss……but just in…..case…..tell them….I…." he trailed off.

Gibbs watched silently as Tony finally lost the losing battle with his broken body. Tony's eyes closed slowly and he slumped against the tree. Gibbs quietly reached over, putting two fingers on the younger man's neck. Satisfied to feel a pulse under his fingers and to see Tony's chest rising and falling a touch easier than before, he leaned forward.

Rubbing a gentle hand over Tony's head much like he would a child's, he whispered in his ear.

"Tell them yourself Tony."


	9. Chapter 9

_Hello folks!_

_Okay so I have good news and bad news. The good news is that I'm still cute…..okay no, not really but I've always wanted to say that line. _

_Anyway, the good news is actually that here are two more chapters. The bad news is that though I tried as hard as I could, the story still isn't done. The muse had a lot to say and you'll find that these next two chapters are quite long. _

_So the ending will have to wait until after the Supernatural convention as I decided not to rush it and give it the attention you guys deserve. I am humbled by all your reviews and thank you all for each and every one. _

_I hope you enjoy the next installment……_

_-Moki_

Chapter Nine

"_Ducky! Tony's down! Hurry!" _

_----_

Gibbs left his post guarding his downed agent to return to the nearest hilltop once again. Tony's cell phone was just about dead but he was determined to keep trying until it was truly gone.

He knew that his team would have figured out by now that he and Tony were in trouble. Hopefully they had come to that conclusion at some point in the morning when neither of them had been seen in the office and had been unreachable by phone.

Gibbs was sure how the rest of the day would have played out, just as if he'd been in charge of the investigation himself. McGee and Ziva would research their last location, maybe call the captain's neighbors while Abby worked on tracing their phones and Vance called in sister agencies.

Knowing how it would all be happening made him feel better, but only so much. The one variable they wouldn't be aware of would be the "shortcut" he'd chosen to use the night before. Gibbs couldn't help but to worry if they'd be able to figure out their exact location.

He stopped his train of thought, shaking his head at himself. Of course they would find it. This was _his _team after all and Gibbs hadn't said those words earlier just to make Tony feel better. He knew his people were the best. They'd figure out where he and Tony were. The question was when and would it be in enough time to help his Senior Field Agent?

So engrossed in his own thoughts, the blinking bars on the phone took a few seconds to register. Gibbs stopped dead in his tracks and pulled the phone closer to his face just to be sure his tired eyes weren't being fooled. Sure enough, it was weak, but he had a signal.

He didn't think there was enough juice in the thing to make a call and debated with himself for a moment before deciding to give it a try. Quickly pulling up Tony's contact list he pressed the button to call McGee.

Just as he hit the button to connect, the phone went dead. The battery had finally given up the ghost after a very valiant battle.

Gibbs cursed softly, fighting the instinct to throw the thing at the nearest tree - the only thing stopping him the thought of his agent lying unconscious nearby.

No point in literally adding insult to injury by breaking the poor guy's phone.

------------

"McGee! Stop!!" Abby's voice came out of the backseat, nearly causing him to veer off the road. Slamming on the breaks, he handily pulled the car onto the verge. Cursing under his breath, he took a few seconds to calm his rapidly beating heart.

Ziva had turned around in her seat and was watching the forensics scientist. "What is it, Abby?"

"I think I've got something," Abby was desperately punching code into her computer, trying to squeeze out any extra power she could.

"C'mon baby, give me something..." she begged, stroking the machine like a pet. Indeed it did sort of resemble one. Being Abby's personal laptop, it was decorated in skulls of varying shapes and sizes, as well as the occasional bat.

As Abby watched with her lower lip in her teeth, the faint bars of a signal began to rise. Driving onto the mountain was giving them the proximity they finally needed and...

"There! I have it! It's Tony's cell phone!" Abby cried, punching the car roof in triumph.

"Where?" McGee asked even as he threw the car in gear and pulled back onto the freshly plowed road. Vance had been able to get them no less than four snow plows and the huge machines had been cutting swatches up and down the mountain ever since they'd been dispatched. Rescue crews as well as Vance's car, McGee's car and Ducky's van were now crawling all over the mountain. Every time a new section of road was cleared, a vehicle was there waiting to start searching it.

"West! You've got to turn around! There's a side road we missed quite a ways back." Abby replied, pulling up the map.

McGee peeled out, flying back down the road the way they'd just come at a pace as fast as he dared. A lot of the roads were cleared but it would still take most of the night to get the entire mountain accessible..

Abby continued to punch keys, now pulling up McGee's cell and Ducky's cell, using the information to triangulate where they all were in relation to the faint signal coming from Tony's phone. As she watched the small red dot from Ducky's cell appear on her screen, her eyes flew open.

"Ziva!" She cried. "Call Ducky and Palmer! They're practically on top of Tony's cell! Tell them to take the next fork on the right and then go about three miles. The signal is coming from a spot just east of the road."

Ziva quickly picked up her phone as McGee continued to drive in the direction they'd been told.

They both heard the cry of dismay from the backseat.

"Oh no! C'mon baby, don't die on me now!"

"Abby?" McGee queried, sparing a glance into the rearview mirror.

"I lost it and I've boosted my signal as much as I can. I think the phone's battery is dead. Which means there's nothing else I can do," she sounded heartbroken.

"Abby you gave us a location closer than we ever would have gotten on our own," Ziva said kindly.

The Goth only frowned in reply as Ziva quickly gave directions to Palmer, who was driving the van a few miles from their position. Once she finished, Ziva called the Director and gave him an update as well.

-------

"Yes, I understand, I will direct Mr. Palmer that way," Ducky was saying into this phone.

Palmer kept driving, sparing a glance at his boss once he'd hung up.

"Doctor?"

"Abigail got a signal from Tony's phone, turn around, quickly!"

Turning the large van around took some time but Palmer still managed to be back on the road going the opposite way in nearly no time. Following Abby's instructions, they drove towards where she had last gotten a signal. Abby had said three miles from the turn and Palmer carefully counted it out, watching the odometer as he drove.

When they got to the end of the first mile they were both dismayed to find the way blocked by snow.

"The snowplows stopped _here_?" Palmer said incredulously.

"I'm afraid so, can you keep driving?" Ducky asked.

"No doctor, there's no way I'll get the van in there. It's much too deep, even with the snow chains."

"Alright, then we're walking from here," and with that Ducky was out of his seat and closing the passenger door behind him. Palmer was only a half second behind and soon the two of them were gathering equipment from the back of the van.

--------

Gibbs returned to his position by the tree where his agent lay. Even if the team had gotten their position from the burst of cell phone power, there was still no way to know how long it would take for them to arrive. He checked on Tony again, dismayed to see that the other man was still shivering with cold despite everything his boss had done to keep him warm.

As the minutes ticked by Tony's shivering became worse until Gibbs had no choice but to try and use his own body heat to help. Sitting down beside his agent, he put his body next to the other man, careful as he did so not to jar him too much. Mindful of Tony's already broken bones, Gibbs moved in close until the unconscious man's head rested on his shoulder.

Within a few minutes, Tony's tremors eased and even his breathing improved slightly. Gibbs smiled ruefully at his position, knowing full well that Tony would surely have some colorful comments about it if he ever found out. Gibbs didn't care though. When one of his men needed his help, he gave it, no matter what it was. Embarrassment wasn't a luxury either of them could afford right now. Life and death had a way of taking that out of the picture.

Gibbs thoughts were interrupted by a sound, or more accurately the absence of a sound. The trained sniper in him recognized the wildlife in the woods responding to a threat. Until then, there had been the sounds of a normal forest – winter birds, small rodents running through the snow, etc.

Now there was silence. Everything alive had gone still, hiding from an unseen predator. The ex-Marine wanted to get up and hunt it down but didn't dare. There was no way he could or would leave Tony alone now. At least when the other man had been conscious, Gibbs felt better about walking farther away when looking for cell service or checking the road. Now he was glued by his agent's side, guarding Tony like a mother bear guarding her young.

They were in nature's territory and in nature there was a word for a man in Tony's condition - prey.

One hand ready to grab his weapon and ears listening for the slightest sound, Gibbs stood up slowly. Walking a few feet away he continued to listen hard, barely breathing.

Within a few minutes the sounds in the woods returned to normal. Slowly Gibbs heard the little rustlings and bursts of birdsong he'd gotten used to in their time on the mountain.

It was as he was standing there that Gibbs heard a sound come from Tony. Thinking that the other man was waking up, he quickly kneeled down.

"Tony?"

Tony's eyes were still closed and Gibbs realized that the sound he heard was the terrible noise of lungs struggling for oxygen. Whereas the injured man had been silently and somewhat comfortably sleeping before, Gibbs now saw a battle for life.

Not being a doctor Gibbs had no idea exactly what had happened but it was obvious that Tony's condition had suddenly deteriorated. Helplessly he watched as the man before him fought to survive, knowing that there was nothing to do to help.

"C'mon Tony...Don't you dare die on me!"

Remembering CPR training, Gibbs thought it might help if Tony's airway was in an open position. Reaching forward he carefully pulled the other man into his arms and gently laid him flat on the ground, tipping Tony's head back and straightening his neck.

Sitting back on his heels, Gibbs placed his fists on his thighs and watched anxiously. For a few moments it seemed that Gibbs' plan worked as Tony's breathing became less stressed. The senior agent was about to breathe a sigh of relief when to his horror the other man suddenly began gasping again.

Then, just as suddenly, Tony went completely still.

In shock, Gibbs failed to realize what the stillness meant at first. Wanting it to mean that Tony's lungs were winning the battle, he was unprepared for the man in front of him to stop breathing completely.

_Tony, NO!_ Gibbs thought in horror.

Staying on his knees, Gibbs went into action. He carefully placed one hand over the other and started compressions on Tony's chest - counting them out before leaning down to push air from his own lungs into Tony's mouth. The younger man may already have a broken rib but that knowledge didn't slow Gibbs down much. Broken ribs would heal. A still heart would not.

As he battled with the dying man in front of him, the irony of the situation struck Gibbs.

He hadn't been conscious at the time but it occurred to him that Tony and he had now switched places. It wasn't that long ago that he had been the one lying cold and not breathing while his agent battled to save not only his life but a young woman who had come to represent the daughter he'd lost so long ago. Tony's battle had been harder that day. He dove into the cold ocean to retrieve two people and his breath had had to be enough to bring back not one, but two sets of lungs.

Much as they always did, the two of them had moved past the incident without saying a word, yet communicating a lot. Each knew it could easily happen again and just as easily it could be the other way around next time. Gibbs knowing Tony would do it again in a heartbeat and Tony knowing that Gibbs would return the favor if ever the need arose.

"Okay DiNozzo," Gibbs said out loud, still counting out compressions and breathing air into Tony's lungs. "I'm returning the favor.....so now you gotta do as I did.......... Breathe!"

Gibbs kept at it for a few minutes, stopping to check Tony's pulse and watch for his chest to rise and fall on its own. It never happened and Gibbs finally understood then what it must have been like for Tony on that dock with two cold bodies lying in front of him.

Gibbs had almost lost hope when he heard a new sound. Much as he hated to do it, he paused for a second. He had to identify the sound, it being so different from the usual noises he'd heard all night. Had a predator sniffed out the wounded man, hoping for an easy meal?

As Gibbs listened, the noises became more distinct until he was sure that he was hearing footsteps. Too heavy and deliberate to be anything except human.

That's when he noticed the faint glow of a light bouncing through the trees, coming from down the road.

Looking down at the still man below him, Gibbs had to decide if he should stop breathing for Tony long enough to flag down whoever was out there or simply hope that they found them. After a moment's hesitation he decided that he couldn't take the chance that a search crew missed them. Getting off that mountain immediately was Tony's best chance….his only chance.

Jumping up, Gibbs grabbed a flaming log from the fire still burning and ran with it towards the road. Waving frantically, he watched as the flashlights headed towards him, bobbing erratically as their owners broke into a choppy run in the deep snow.

"Jethro?!" a familiar voice called out suddenly and Gibbs felt relief wash through him.

"Ducky! Tony's down! Hurry!"


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

_I'm not the only one watching over him now…_

_-----_

Ducky pelted towards Gibbs' voice faster than a man his age should have been able, Palmer right behind. The urgency in the team leader's voice telling them that there wasn't any time to spare.

Gibbs led them back to Tony and then stood by as the two men began to work feverishly. Ducky quickly listened to Tony's chest, palpating gently, pausing when he hit the spot that Gibbs had thought a broken rib might be.

"We've got a pneumothorax, give me a chest tube, quickly Mr. Palmer." Ducky ordered and immediately Palmer went digging through one of the boxes they'd brought with them.

Gibbs continued to stand by, not really understanding what the two men were talking about and wishing like hell that he could do something, anything, to help.

As soon as he passed the needed items to the M.E., Palmer prepared for what he knew would come next. First he placed a flashlight in his mouth and pulled on gloves. Gibbs watched curiously as the young M.E.'s Assistant then pulled out an instrument, holding it one hand and a tube in the other.

When all was prepared, Palmer waited, his hands held in midair over Tony's face, ready to put the tube down the other man's throat the moment Ducky was finished. He didn't dare try the procedure while Ducky worked, as any movement he caused to Tony's body likely to jostle the M.E.

"Jethro, hold the light for me," Ducky ordered and Gibbs was at his side in a flash, happy to be doing something. He took the indicated light and held it where the older man pointed.

As Ducky quickly and carefully sliced into a space Tony's ribs, Gibbs found himself turning his face away. He'd seen a lot of things in his time but right then he just didn't want to watch. Not after all that Tony had been through. Gibbs couldn't witness one more thing hurting his agent, no matter how much he convinced himself that the scalpel was actually helping the other man.

Only peripherally aware of his friend's turmoil, Ducky ignored it to help the agent in front of him. Once he had the hole big enough, he inserted a gloved finger to push in the tube, inserting it deep into Tony's chest. Pulling out his stethoscope he listened carefully, checking to be sure of its location.

"Mr. Palmer," Ducky said as soon as he was sure the tube was where it needed to be.

Jimmy had been waiting for just that. Reaching down, he tipped Tony's head back and inserted the instrument to open his throat. Carefully aiming the light with his mouth, he worked to place the breathing tube as quickly as possible. He'd only done the procedure on a human cadaver once before but as luck would have it, that wasn't the only time he'd inserted a breathing tube.

Thanking his luck for a summer working in a pet hospital, Palmer sighed with relief as the tube slid into place. After once intubating a newborn kitten with a swollen throat, putting a tube into a full grown man was comparatively easy.

"It's in!" Palmer cried, spitting out the flashlight and reaching for a bag from the box next to him. Ducky moved the stethoscope, listening as Palmer attached the bag and began to pump air into Tony's lungs.

"Well done, Mr. Palmer," Ducky said, taking the stethoscope out of his ears. He'd heard the reassuring sound of air entering Tony's lungs and relaxed a little as the worst was over. Getting oxygen into his body was job one, now it was time for the next step.

Ducky looked up to find Gibbs staring at him.

"Duck?" With one word Gibbs communicated all his fears and questions to his old friend and the M.E. quickly held up a hand to reassure him.

"Jethro, Tony's suffered a pneumothorax," seeing the puzzled look on the other man's face he explained. "It's a collapsed lung. Anthony broke a rib in the accident and it pierced his lung, causing air to enter his chest cavity and the lung to collapse. It would've happened slowly, probably ever since the moment of impact."

Gibbs looked crestfallen.

"Now Jethro, don't do that. There is absolutely nothing you could have done for him. Even if I had been here with him, there would have been nothing I could have done without the proper instruments. Once the rib pierced the lung it was only a matter of time before he stopped breathing. Let's just count our blessings that we got to him in time, shall we?"

"One condition Duck," Gibbs said.

Ducky raised his eyebrows in a silent query.

"Keep him alive."

Ducky nodded, his breath catching a little at the tone of his friend's voice. The young man lying below them meant more to Jethro than he'd ever admit and Ducky had just witnessed a crack in the Lead Agent's armor. It made him want to help more than ever.

"Jethro, help us get him onto the backboard," Ducky said, determined to do as he promised.

Ducky was in charge now and Gibbs followed his orders without hesitation. The M.E. quickly put a neck brace on Tony as Gibbs and Palmer prepared the backboard. As soon as Ducky was done, all three men gently slid the injured agent onto it.

Gibbs and Palmer then lifted Tony and began the arduous trip through the deep snow to the van. Ducky walked next to them, pumping the bag giving oxygen to Tony every few seconds. Once they got to the van, they laid Tony in the back.

That's when Gibbs took over.

"Keys, phone," he said to Palmer who obediently handed them over, barely looking up from his post at Tony's head. As Ducky made sure the straps holding the agent to the backboard were fastened securely, Palmer pumped air into the injured man's lungs.

On the way back to the van, Palmer had given Gibbs the directions to the rendezvous point Vance had set up in case a chopper was needed. Closing the door on the three men in the back, Gibbs ran around to the driver's seat.

Pulling out Palmer's phone as he started the engine, Gibbs called McGee. Giving a brief report of Tony's condition, he ordered the other man to have the chopper meet them at the rendezvous. Then he pulled out and drove as fast and as carefully as he ever had in his life. The only time he'd driven faster being when Shannon had been in labor on the way to the hospital. The only time he'd driven more carefully being on the way home, with Kelly safely strapped in her car seat.

-----

Tony returned to the world to find it completely different than he remembered. Gone was the silence and biting cold. Now there was warmth and noise, lots of noise. Voices called to each other though he couldn't make out the words. Behind it all there was another noise, a constant one.

Whump, whump, whump

He couldn't figure it out and opening his eyes to investigate further just wasn't an option. Staying awake might be an option. Opening his eyes with lids that felt like they weighed a ton? Not so much.

Whump, whump, whump.

Where was he? He remembered being with Gibbs in the woods. Yeah, that's right. The woods. How had he gotten there? Oh, the investigation. He and Gibbs had gone to the captain's house.

Whump, whump, whump.

The crash. That's what happened next. Then after the crash there was an explosion. After that it was mostly pain he remembered. Pain in his leg. Pain in his chest. Lots of it everywhere.

Whump, whump, whump.

Then he hadn't been able to breathe. He'd been scared. Really scared. Gibbs had been holding him. Gibbs told him he'd be fine. Then he had slept.

Whump, whump, whump.

He vaguely remembered warmth on the mountain while he slept. A body next to his. It had meant heat but also comfort. The fear had gone a little when he'd felt it.

Whump, whump, whump.

After that there were new noises. Gibbs shouting his name. Begging him not to die. Tony had tried to answer. Tried to tell Gibbs that he was there. That he could hear his boss. Gibbs hadn't heard him. Then Tony heard Ducky.

Whump, whump, whump.

Then there had been a new pain. Sharp, slicing into him with a red hot heat. Something in his throat. He had wanted to choke but couldn't. Somehow he'd been breathing, even with the strange thing going down his neck.

Whump, whump, whump.

Then there had been a long, terrifying drive in a van, Tony wondering the whole time if he'd survive the trip. Fighting to wake up, to tell Ducky he was still alive. The M.E. had looked so worried.

After that there was….

Whump, whump, whump

Tony tried to concentrate again. What had happened next? Why was it so loud all of a sudden? Where was he?

Then it hit him.

A helicopter. That's where he was. The van had driven to where the chopper had landed. A rescue team had arrived and walked him out on a stretcher to a clearing. Now he was on his way to Bethesda.

Whump, whump, whump

Now that Tony knew what the sound was, he let himself relax. He was safe. He would be fine. He had to be, Gibbs had said so.

As he thought it, he became aware of a new sensation. Not unpleasant like most of the rest that were nagging at him. Not an uncomfortable tube in his throat or needles in his arms. It was softer, warmer, kinder.

Whump, whump, whump

It was a hand. It was holding onto his. Not too tight to hurt but just tight enough to tell him that it was there. There was no way he was going to be able to open his eyes but even without that sense Tony knew to whom the hand belonged.

_Gibbs._

Before the darkness took him again, Tony had one last comforting thought.

_The Boss was right, I didn't die. _

----

Abby, McGee and Ziva stood watching the helicopter fly off into the distance. Ducky and Palmer were loading their gear back into the truck while Vance was walking around to the various agency reps, thanking each one personally for their help in finding his agents.

Once Ducky and Palmer were ready, McGee gestured at the two women to follow him.

"C'mon, let's start heading to the hospital," he said quietly. Ziva nodded, putting an arm around the forensic scientist and physically pulling her away from where she stood. Abby followed but kept her eyes on the spot in the night sky where the chopper had flown off for as long as she could.

The same caravan that had sped away from the base so many hours before now worked it's way down the mountain at a more reasonable pace. Ducky had assured them that while Tony was critical, he was in the best of hands. It was nearing dawn and with no one having slept all night, the M.E. didn't want anyone rushing on the still icy roads.

Two hours later the group made their way into the hospital. Ziva walked with a protective arm still around Abby, while Ducky, McGee and Palmer brought up the rear. Vance had returned to the base to report to his superiors and let them know what had occurred.

Ducky spoke quickly and quietly with a nurse and they were given directions to a waiting room on another floor. It was a small room, reserved for families waiting to hear news on a patient in critical care and McGee opened the door slowly, unsure of what he'd find on the other side.

All stopped in their tracks at the sight of their boss.

Gibbs had flown on the chopper with Tony but once they'd landed he had been shuffled off to various rooms. First a waiting room near the ER, then another near surgery and now finally this one, waiting for word as Tony had been taken to intensive care. No amount of blustering, threats and even a bit of yelling had gotten him any closer to his man or to finding out what was going on with him.

For two hours he'd heard different phrases and words – _touch and go, he's a fighter, we won't know anything until after surgery, critical condition_ – none of them mattered much to him. After the accident, no sleep for about 48 hours straight and the trauma of nearly losing one of his men, words hardly meant anything to him. They all could have been speaking Mandarin and he probably would have been none the wiser.

Gibbs didn't think he'd believe any of them at that point anyway. He just wanted to see DiNozzo. He wanted to lay his own eyes on him and reassure himself that the man was alive. Gibbs had promised Tony that he would live and until he saw for himself, he wouldn't believe that he'd been right.

Waiting for word, Gibbs had laid his head in his hands and that was how the team found him. So deep were his thoughts that he didn't hear them enter right away. A hand on his shoulder might have made another man jump but not an ex-sniper.

"Jethro," Ducky said kindly.

Gibbs slowly looked up into Ducky's face. Ignoring the others for the moment he felt only relief that the other man was there. Ducky would know how to find out what had happened to DiNozzo. Not only that, it was also good to have his friend there to help share the burden and the worry.

"They won't tell me anything, Duck," Gibbs said and Ducky nodded, immediately walking out of the door to see what he could do.

Still feeling the need for comfort herself and also spotting that the Bossman needed some too, Abby extricated herself from Ziva's arm. She sat down next to Gibbs without a word and they put their arms around each other.

Ziva, Palmer and McGee sat down in empty seats on the other side of the room and all settled down to wait.

No one was sure how much time went by after that. It could have been hours but probably more like minutes when Ducky returned. The smile on his face when he opened the door did more than he could ever know and the room noticeably relaxed to see it.

"Anthony is doing well, Jethro," Ducky said, speaking directly to Gibbs but including everyone in his news. "They've repaired the break to his leg, oh and the doctor gives his compliments for a fine set you did in the field."

Everyone turned to look at Gibbs, until that moment no one realized exactly what had happened to the two of them out on that mountain. The fact that Gibbs had to set Tony's leg (sans painkillers) surprised them all. What else had gone on up there, they wondered?

"They only needed to put in a small pin to hold the bones in place, overall not a bad break at all and Tony will recover nicely from it. As for his head wound they found only a slight concussion."

Ducky paused briefly and Gibbs pounced on it, afraid that the M.E. was giving them the good news first and holding onto the bad.

"What is it, Duck?"

Ducky frowned. "Well they weren't happy with Tony's tests. The collapsed lung caused fluid to build up, something that wouldn't have happened in a normal person but with Tony's history I'm afraid he is more susceptible to pneumonia."

"What does that mean?" Abby finally spoke up, asking the question in a voice so small that it caused Gibbs to hold her tighter.

"It means that he's not quite out of the woods I'm afraid. He's still on a ventilator and will need help to breath a bit longer. But," he held up his hands at the fallen looks that received that piece of news. "there is no need to panic. Young Anthony is very strong, even with his bad lungs. He has a fight ahead of him but I think he could be just fine."

After that Ducky was able to convince Gibbs to not only get checked out himself but also to rest a bit. At first Gibbs had balked at the suggestion that he rest, claiming he could never sleep without knowing for sure that DiNozzo would be okay. A quick conference between Ducky and Tony's doctors brought a solution that they all could agree upon.

So it was after Gibbs had been examined, bandaged and given a clean bill of health, that he found himself being led into Tony's room. He was shown to the bed next to his agent and instructed to get some sleep.

Gibbs had refused to put on a gown, laying down with his clothes on, taking off his shoes and pulling the blanket over him. As he put his head on the pillow he looked over at Tony, studying the machines and tubes thoughtfully and wondering what they each did.

Letting the reassuringly steady beeps from DiNozzo's machines lull him, Gibbs allowed himself to doze. They were no longer alone on a mountaintop. There was an entire staff of people keeping watch and if anything went wrong, he knew they'd wake him.

_I'm not the only one watching over him now…_


	11. Chapter 11

_Hello folks! _

_Well here they are, the last three chapters. At first I thought there was only going to be one more, maybe two, but the Muse had more to say I guess. _

_The Con last weekend was fantastic and I can't wait to go again next year. Thanks for all your patience. I have already started on another story but it may take a while for me to post it as I want to wait until it is finished. I will say that it takes place between Last Man Standing and Agent Afloat and will concentrate on Tony's time as agent afloat. _

_In fact, once it's done some of you may notice that I've even hinted to it in this episode._

_So stay tuned… ;o)_

_-Moki_

Chapter Eleven

"_That's cruel Boss, you shouldn't make a man with broken ribs laugh."_

-------

"Mr. DiNozzo! Stop fighting us! The tube has to stay in!"

Gibbs eyes opened. It felt like he'd fallen asleep only moments before in a quiet, darkened room. At the time there'd only been the reassuring sounds of Tony's machines.

Now it was nothing less than chaos. A crowd of people in white were surrounding the bed next to him, trying in vain to hold down the man in it. Even with broken bones and a machine doing his breathing for him, Tony was giving them all a run for their money. On some level Gibbs felt a certain amount of pride at that.

"Dammit! He's fighting it! I thought you gave him another dose?" One of the doctors yelled to the woman next to him.

"I did but it's not making a dent!" The nurse responded, both of them with arms wrapped tight around their patient.

Another doctor walked in and Gibbs recognized the specialist from Tony's bout with the plague. Without a word to anyone else in the room, the new visitor rushed straight to Tony's side.

"Tony? Tony, it's me Doctor Pitt…. Brad. Remember me?"

Tony's only response was to fight harder and Pitt growled to himself as he tried to hold the agent down. "If he doesn't stop, he's going to hurt himself…"

Up until that moment Gibbs had been willing to let the medical staff do their job. Now it was his turn. Jumping out of bed, he shoved his way forward, ignoring the many arms that tried to stop him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Dr. Pitt motioning people to back off.

Once he was at Tony's side, Gibbs touched the younger man's forehead. He was shocked at the heat he felt coming off of Tony's skin but chose to ignore it. They had bigger problems at the moment.

"Tony! Hey! You have to stop."

Gibbs was surprised when his voice didn't illicit a response. He watched as Tony continued to struggle, nearly pulling out the vital equipment keeping him alive with his violent motions. As a last resort, Gibbs screamed.

"Anthony!! You hold still _right now_! That's an order!"

Suddenly the body below him became still, deathly still. Gibbs put his hand on the younger man's shoulder and felt him shaking with the effort to not move. Gibbs hated himself as he realized what he'd just done. He hadn't calmed the other man down. If anything Tony was more terrified than before. Now he was just too scared to do anything about it.

The part that made Gibbs sick to his stomach was the knowledge that the reason Tony had followed orders hadn't only been because of his barked command. From the younger man's reaction Gibbs guessed that DiNozzo Sr. must have called his son "Anthony" when he was angry. Maybe even screamed at him in a similar way.

Under normal circumstances he knew that DiNozzo could handle, if not require, a heavy hand (often to the back of the head), maybe even a few screams. The trouble was these were anything but normal circumstances and Gibbs hated that he'd had to do something so similar to that jerk of a father. He made a mental note to himself.

_I gotta remember to use his full name sometimes when he's done good. Maybe that'll erase what that bastard did…._

"Agent Gibbs…" Dr. Pitt said quietly, interrupting Gibbs' inner thoughts. The doc needed to get in closer to get some meds going on his patient and much as he didn't want to interrupt, Gibbs was in the way.

Gibbs reluctantly left Tony's side and stood back while the doctor went to work. After he and the rest of the staff were done and satisfied that Tony was no longer a threat to himself, they left the room.

Walking back to the bed, Gibbs pulled up the chair to sit down next to his agent. Tony's eyes were still wide open in fear but he hadn't moved a single muscle since Gibbs had given him the order. Seeing the effort the younger man was putting in to holding still made Gibbs even more angry at himself. He vowed from then on he was going to help Tony, not terrify him more. No matter what.

"Hey Tony, can you hear me?"

A quick, terrified nod.

"Okay, then listen. I know what you're feeling. You're hurting like hell in a million places and that thing in your throat feels like it's on fire. Am I close?"

A few affirmative blinks.

"But you listen to me. You're going to be fine. You just need that damn thing in there for a little while longer."

Gibbs leaned in farther until he was looking Tony straight in the eye.

"I promise you, the moment it can come out, I'll make them take it out. You hear me?"

Another nod, but Gibbs could see doubt in Tony's eyes.

"Have I ever lied to you, DiNozzo?"

A pause. Then a nearly invisible shake of the head.

"That's right and I'm not starting now. So take it easy, let that thing do it's job and you'll be fine. Got it?"

Another nod, and this time Gibbs was relieved to see Tony's whole body relax, the younger man's hands no longer holding the blankets in a death grip.

Gibbs rubbed a hand along Tony's head. "If I can handle it DiNozzo, so can you. Got it?"

Tony's eyes were drooping, the drugs finally taking effect. He gave one final nod, then his body went limp with sleep. Afraid for the man to wake up in a terror again, Gibbs stayed where he was, watching Tony carefully.

Over the next 48 hours, Tony continued to go in and out of consciousness. His body was fighting the onset of pneumonia and in his fevered state, he was restless. The antibiotics helped and there were improvements but he continued to wake up every few hours, disoriented and frightened.

Gibbs kept a vigil over his charge, never leaving his post for more than it took to hit the head or take a shower. After that first night, Gibbs' physician announced that he could be released but the team leader had refused to leave. Citing many hospital regulations, the nurses had fought to make him go, claiming that "the patient" would be fine in their care.

It was finally Dr. Pitt who intervened on Gibbs' behalf. He had seen the way Tony had calmed down in his boss' presence and even when hard pressed, the nurses' couldn't deny that their patient had required less medication and shown a marked improvement under his watchful eye. They finally gave in and Gibbs was allowed to stay in the room.

Whenever Tony startled awake, Gibbs often found that a touch and a few murmured words would send the other man back into sleep. Eventually he began to know innately when his charge was about to wake and he would be at Tony's side, ready to calm him down before the younger man's eyes had even opened.

It reminded Gibbs of the months after Kelly's birth. Getting into the routine of a newborn wasn't easy but after a while, he and Shannon had it down to as much of a science as you could get with a baby. Up every three hours to change and feed, Gibbs' eyes would suddenly open in the middle of the night and he'd hear Kelly's cries over the monitor a minute later. Sometimes he'd find a sleepy Shannon smiling at him, her own maternal instinct waking her before the baby as well.

Gibbs had found that even with a dry diaper and a full stomach, his daughter would still wake up, perhaps fearful of the brand new world in which she had been thrust. Her father's voice and touch would put her back to sleep in no time and Shannon had joked that he had "the magic touch".

Years later, as he sat down after calming Tony for the countless time, Gibbs had a thought that made him smile.

_Never in a million years did I think I'd be using that talent on DiNozzo._

-------

Much like he had before in the chopper, Tony felt himself slowly returning to the world. It was much quieter this time, just a steady beeping. It was the beeping that led him back. He followed it like a man following a clearly marked trail, each beep bringing him one step closer to wakefulness.

Just before he thought he could open his eyes, Tony became aware of different sensations in his body. The pain in his chest had gone down to a dull aching pressure, his leg felt warm and almost comfortable and while his head still ached, it was a vast improvement over before.

He blinked at the brightness in the room, wanting to turn his head to look around when he realized his neck felt strange. Something was in his mouth and as he let consciousness return he suddenly realized that while he wanted to take a deep breath, he couldn't.

"Did you know that your machines actually beep differently when you're about to wake up?"

His response to the voice was immediate and instinctual. Tony's body relaxed and the momentary panic he'd felt dissipated in a heartbeat. Turning his head slightly, Tony found his boss standing over him.

Tony opened his mouth to speak, his eyes opening wide as he felt the tube once again. Seeing the look on his face, Gibbs put a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, we talked about that, remember? Docs are on the way."

Tony didn't actually remember talking about that but if Gibbs said they did, then they did. Case closed. So he relaxed and waited. A few seconds later a familiar face walked in the door.

"Well, Agent Gibbs, you were right. It does look like he's ready," Tony looked up into Dr. Pitt's grinning face.

"You wouldn't believe it Tony," Pitt continued casually, getting out some instruments. "But your boss there called us about three minutes ago and informed us that not only were you waking up but you were strong enough to have the tube come out."

As he talked, Pitt was setting up everything he would need to remove Tony's tube, a nurse quietly standing by and handing him things as he opened his hands for them. Pitt gently pulled the tape holding the tube on Tony's face, then caught his eyes again.

"Now I'm not exactly sure _how_ he knew but we've sort of given up on trying to figure that out. At this point if your boss says you're ready, then I'm willing to bet that he's right. Whattya think, Buckeye? You want that thing outta your mouth?"

Tony nodded mutely and after telling him to take a deep breath and blow, Pitt pulled the offending apparatus out. Tony laid his head back on the pillow and took a deep breath that quickly turned into a cough. A hand was placed behind his head and he was instructed to sip water. The water helped and soon Tony was able to take some steady breaths.

After that there was some minutes of answering questions about how he felt, lights were shown in his eyes, his chest was listened to and some bags were added to the I.V. lines already in his arms.

Once they were done, the doctor and nurse left and Tony took in the silent room. His eyes wandered until they found Gibbs, sitting quietly on the bed next to him.

"Hey Boss." The sound of his own voice startled him, rough from lack of use and a throat that was sore.

"DiNozzo."

"Thanks."

"For what?"

"Saving my life."

Gibbs looked startled. "Don't look at me, DiNozzo. You've got a top notch team of doctors here. Plus Ducky and Palmer did some great triage on the mountain."

"Not talking about that."

From Tony's look Gibbs realized that the other man meant earlier, before Ducky and Palmer had arrived.

"Oh," Gibbs replied, not sure what else to say.

"So now we're even." Tony said with a smile and Gibbs sniffed.

"It's still your fault that we crashed." Gibbs said.

Tony chuckled, grabbing at his ribs.

"That's cruel Boss, you shouldn't make a man with broken ribs laugh."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

"_G'night, Boss." _

--------

Gibbs stayed with Tony a few more days. Though as the other man became stronger, the team leader felt better about leaving him alone for longer periods of time. Gibbs even began checking in on the rest of his team by going outside to make calls whenever Tony slept.

After one such break, he returned to find that Tony was no longer alone as he'd left him.

Gibbs paused in the doorway, smiling as he watched Abby watching Tony sleep.

"It's kind of relaxing, isn't it?" Abby asked in a whisper, aware when Gibbs entered the room behind her.

"Yeah, like watching fish in an aquarium," Gibbs replied, sitting down in a chair as Abby gently sat on the bed next to Tony, still watching him curiously. She turned her head to one side, studying him carefully.

"Not exactly like fish. I never liked watching fish. I always end up feeling sorry for them, being stuck in a little tank. Maybe more like watching a sleeping cat."

"Or a dog. I had a golden retriever that used to get that exact same look on his face when he fell asleep in front of the fire." Gibbs replied.

Without moving a muscle or opening his eyes, Tony spoke.

"You guys do know I can hear you, right?"

Abby giggled. "We do now."

Tony opened his eyes and smiled at his new guest. "Hey there good lookin', how's it going?"

"Better now that you're actually awake enough for me to talk to you. Every other time I've been here you were out cold," Abby replied with a pout, leaning down for a hug, careful not to squeeze too hard.

"Sorry," Tony said with a rueful smile. "Next time I'll be sure to make more of an effort to stay awake for you."

The three of them chatted comfortably for a while before a nurse came in to remind them that visiting hours would be over soon. When she left, Tony turned to Gibbs.

"Boss, no offense but you look like crap. Maybe you should take off too. I don't need babysitting anymore."

Gibbs was about to argue when he took a good look at the man before him and realized Tony had a point. The doctors had replaced the soft, post-surgical cast on his leg the day before, the lighter fiberglass one making him much more mobile. Also Tony's ribs were healing and the cough had nearly disappeared.

"You sure?" Gibbs asked cautiously. He was purposely giving the other man an easy out. Tony hadn't suffered any night terrors since those first nights but Gibbs knew that there had been a couple times when he'd woken up startled. Each of those time Gibbs had seen Tony look for him in the next bed and once finding him there, had only then gone back to sleep.

Tony didn't think Gibbs knew about those times, but he did. Gibbs had to make sure the other man was really ready to be left alone.

"I'm sure, Boss. Go home and get some real sleep. I'll be out of here in a few days anyway."

Gibbs looked into Tony's eyes and seeing no sign of subterfuge (DiNozzo couldn't lie to him without him knowing it), took his agent's advice. A few minutes later Gibbs was getting a ride home from Abby. He didn't talk much on the trip, thoughtful about what Tony had said.

Tony was going to be released, that was true, but he was going to be wheelchair bound for at least a couple weeks. Then on crutches for about a month after that. If he'd broken an arm, Gibbs wouldn't have been as worried. A man could get along pretty well with one arm, he'd done it himself a time or two. A broken leg was a whole other story.

After he said goodbye to Abby, Gibbs walked up to his door and put in the key. Still lost in thought he walked in to his house, looking around as if he were seeing it for the first time. A one story with hardwood floors he'd installed himself, Gibbs realized how much easier it would be for a man in a wheelchair to get around on them than in a three story walk-up like Tony's apartment downtown.

Making a decision right then, Gibbs walked into the guest bedroom and began moving out some of the junk he'd put in there when rearranging the basement. If Tony was going to stay in the room, it was going to need some work.

Despite Tony's advice to get some sleep, Gibbs stayed up most of the night. When he was done, the entire place had been moved around. All non-essential furniture taken out and the entire place cleared of anything that could be rammed into by a wheelchair.

Gibbs crawled into his bed near dawn, planning to make a quick call to Dr. Pitt later in the morning. The doctor had mentioned that the other man may need to go into a rehabilitation center or get a fulltime nurse. If Gibbs had his way, neither would be necessary now.

When Gibbs returned to the hospital later, he didn't come empty handed. After a few days of hospital food, he knew that Tony was probably ready for something different. He received a couple of dirty looks from the nurses as he passed their desk but none stopped him. Since Tony wasn't technically on a special diet there was nothing they could say as they watched the team leader walk by with his fragrant box.

Gibbs walked into Tony's room, finding him sitting up, a pillow under his casted leg and a laptop on the table in front of him. Ready to admonish the man for working when he should be resting, Gibbs opened his mouth to give Tony what-for.

"Don't worry Boss, it's just a DVD, see?" Tony obediently turned the laptop around to face Gibbs so that the other man could see the paused screen. "McGee brought this to me this morning. He raided my place to bring me some DVD's and he did a pretty good job too. This is my favorite episode of Magnum."

Gibbs smiled slightly, looking at the screen and noting the still image was of the star treading water. He knew for a fact that "Home From The Sea" was Tony's favorite episode of that particular series.

He never admitted it to the other man, but Gibbs always liked the show too and that episode had been very good. Gibbs wondered if the strong father/son bond shown in it was what Tony liked so much. Magnum had survived hours treading water in the open sea thinking of his father. If the same thing happened to Tony, Gibbs had to wonder, would the younger man think of his own father too?

Tony finally noticed the box in Gibbs' hand and sniffed the air appreciatively.

"For me, Boss? The white coated mafia out there let you bring that in?" Tony's hands reached for the box as Gibbs handed it over, taking his now customary seat in the next bed.

After Tony had finished his lunch, Gibbs returned to the office. The rest of his team was happy to see him and they asked for any new details on Tony's recovery. Life had gone on without them and they'd even been put on a minor case, with McGee in charge. Gibbs heard the younger man's report and found himself feeling pride for the Probie as well. Sometimes he took for granted just how good his people were.

Over the next few days Tony continued to get a steady stream of visitors, each of them distracting and entertaining him in their own. Soon though, he began to feel like he was going to go stir-crazy.

"Hey Brad, when can I get out of here, man? I'm starting to lose it, big time."

Pitt laughed, pulling the stethoscope away from Tony's chest, the man's last comment coming through loud and clear through it.

"Well actually I was about ready to tell you that I thought you could go home tomorrow, will that work?"

"Seriously? You're not messing with me? I mean that would be cruel to do to a Buckeye when he's down."

"Nope, not kidding. Though there is one thing you should know."

_Here it comes,_ Tony thought. He didn't know what Brad was about to say but he was damn sure he wasn't going to like it.

"Well you're still gonna be in that chair," Pitt hiked a thumb over his shoulder, pointing to the chair parked in the corner. "for at least a couple weeks. After that you'll be on crutches but it's not going to be easy. Plus you'll have to get to physical therapy a couple times a week and you won't be able to drive."

Tony was wary. "What exactly does all that mean to me, doc?"

"It means that you can't be alone, Tony. We were ready to recommend a rehabilitation center or possibly a fulltime nursing service at home…"

Tony interrupted before the doctor could continue.

"Rehab?? That's just a fancy way of saying I'd be staying in another hospital! Or a nurse? Oh I can see it now, it _never_ works out the way it does in the movies. I'm sure I'd get some big burly guy or a mean old woman who reminded me of my grandma."

Tony crossed his arms, looking like a small child and Pitt had to fight not to laugh out loud.

"No way doc, you can forget it. I'm not doing it."

"…but then Gibbs said he'd take you home with him," Pitt finally finished as if Tony hadn't spoken at all.

That stopped Tony cold.

"Gibbs?" Tony was nothing less than flabbergasted.

"Yep. He talked to me about it yesterday. I even went over last night to check his place out and I think you'll be fine there. So if you're okay with it, we're going to release you to him tomorrow and he's going to make sure you get to your physical therapy and help you out at home."

Dumfounded, Tony could only nod his assent.

"That's what I thought you'd say. Alright, I'll see you tomorrow morning." Pitt walked out, leaving Tony with his mouth still gaping open. When he reached the sanctuary of the hallway, the doctor allowed himself a wide smile.

----

The next morning Brad released Tony and he happily allowed the nurse to wheel him out to the parking lot. He quickly found that maneuvering into the car with a cast that went up to his thigh was harder than he'd expected. As Tony finally got himself settled, panting, into the passenger seat, he suddenly understood why no one had wanted him go home alone.

Very grateful for Gibbs' strong arms over the past few minutes, Tony leaned his head back onto the car seat. He was recovering well, but trying to move himself on his own reminded him (painfully) that he still had ribs that weren't quite healed. Plus when he bumped his leg, it hurt. A lot.

They were a little more organized when they got to their destination and Tony managed to get out of the car without hurting himself too much. He hadn't realized how hard it would be and was surprised when Gibbs wheeled him into his room that all he wanted to do was sleep.

Gibbs had known Tony would be excited to leave the hospital but it hadn't surprised him in the least when he'd seen the signs of exhaustion in the younger man as soon as they arrived home. Without a word, Gibbs helped Tony into his bed and watched as he dropped off as soon as he hit the covers.

Tony was going to have to learn that while he was better, he still wasn't fully healed from his injuries yet.

----

Blinking at the light slanting into his room at a new angle, Tony groaned and stretched. Momentarily forgetting where he was, it took him a minute to remember how he'd gotten in the not wholly unfamiliar room.

"Bout time," a voice said and Tony looked over to find Gibbs standing in the doorway.

"Hey, Boss," Tony said with another stretch and yawn. "What time is it?"

"Just after six. Thought maybe you were going to sleep all day and night."

"Six? As in six'oclock pm?" Tony was shocked. They had left the hospital around midmorning and he couldn't believe he slept that long.

"Healing bodies need to sleep," Gibbs replied with a shrug, walking into the room to help Tony get out of bed and into his chair. He'd been cooking for the past hour and was happy that his guest had finally woken up. Not used to cooking for more than himself, or really at all for that matter (most of his dinners tended to be takeout), he'd made way too much food.

Tony was duly impressed by the spread when Gibbs wheeled him into the kitchen, a small dining table tucked into one corner near a window.

"Wow, Boss. You did all this for me? You know we could've just ordered pizza. I'm not picky."

"You can't eat that crap all the time, DiNozzo. Your docs were very specific about that. Now eat."

Tony didn't need to be asked twice and dug in to the salad and pasta with gusto. He hadn't eaten a thing since breakfast and it was apparent that healing bodies needed food as well as rest because at that moment he was starving.

Once dinner was finished, Gibbs wandered down to work on his boat, leaving Tony to watch DVD's in the living room. A couple hours later, Gibbs came quietly up the stairs to find his "patient" out cold in front of the tv, his leg propped up on the leg of the couch.

Gibbs debated leaving the younger man where he was, reluctant to wake him again but he knew Tony should really be in bed. Shaking his shoulder gently, he woke Tony enough to get his help with getting back into the chair and then transferred him to the bed. Once again, Tony was asleep as soon as he his the sheets, barely able to mumble before his eyes closed.

"G'night, Boss"


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

_Guess I must be better......_

------------

The next morning Tony woke up feeling pretty good. He was still tired but already he could feel his body improving after getting so much rest. He hadn't ever slept solidly at the hospital, but for some reason he had no such trouble since getting to his boss' house. Tony had not only fallen asleep easily, but stayed that way.

He was pondering that odd fact when he heard his name being called.

"DiNozzo!"

Tony obediently wheeled himself out of his room. Bumping his leg on the way, he gritted his teeth to avoid cursing out loud. He was still getting used to the chair and his sense of body mass was being thrown off by the extra length of the cast. Doorways were turning into his biggest foe.

"Yeah Boss!" Tony replied, rolling around the corner to find Gibbs standing in the living room.

"Bath time."

Tony's face fell and his gut clenched nervously. Was Gibbs serious? He hadn't actually given a single thought about that particular aspect of his care. Being helped in and out of bed and even changing clothes was one thing, but a bath?

_This is so not good, _Tony thought.

"Um…. Boss? You know, I think I can handle that on my own. Just get me something to wrap this thing with," he tapped the cast. "and I'll be good to go."

"Not a chance, DiNozzo. You slip and fall and Pitt will have _my_ ass for it."

Gibbs turned on his heel, heading towards the bathroom. When he reached it and found himself alone, he poked his head out of the door, looking down the hallway to find Tony staring at him nervously.

"C'mon! Move it!"

Reluctantly Tony began rolling down the hallway, trying desperately to figure out a way to talk himself out of this one. When he got to the bathroom he found Gibbs laying out towels. Tony opened his mouth to plead his case when they both heard the doorbell ring.

_Saved by the bell....literally_, Tony thought.

Gibbs left to answer it and a minute later Tony heard two sets of footsteps coming down the hall. Curious, he spun his chair around to watch as Gibbs stopped in the hallway, waving someone else into the room. Tony nearly fainted with relief when he saw a nurse walk through the door. She was the very epitome of the perfect healthcare practitioner. Not too young, not too old and she smiled kindly at him as she introduced herself.

"Hi, I'm Meg." she said, shaking Tony's hand.

Tony smiled and then looked over her shoulder to find Gibbs grinning at him, looking quite amused.

"What, DiNozzo? You didn't think _I_ was gonna give you a bath, did you?"

Tony laughed as Gibbs closed the door behind him.

_Well, maybe for a second there…._

----

After a few more days, Tony and Gibbs settled into a routine. Tony began to sleep less and less, his body not requiring all of it's energy to heal. He got down to sleeping only at night, with maybe a small nap in the afternoon.

The trouble with that, of course, was that Tony became increasingly bored. He watched every DVD McGee had grabbed from his place, plus everything on Gibbs' shelves. He'd gone online and played computer games, even going so far as to play McGee at night. The Probie had trounced him soundly a few times and he'd grown tired of it quickly. It was so much more fun to challenge the younger agent on the firing range. At least there, Tony was the one with the advantage.

Gibbs started working most hours of the day as Tony became better able to care for himself. At first Tony had appreciated it, knowing his boss must have confidence in him to leave. After awhile though, he began to miss his boss' constant company. While Gibbs didn't exactly talk up a storm, it was still better than an empty and quiet house.

So it was after yet another long day of nothing to do that Tony practically attacked Gibbs the moment he walked in the door, like a little boy running to his father the moment he returned from work.

"Gibbs!" Tony called, wheeling down the hall towards his boss and talking a mile a minute. "So I was thinking, maybe I could go in to the office with you tomorrow. I'm sure Ziva and the Probie must be going crazy without me there. I know I can't go in the field but I bet I could still be helpful. C'mon you gotta let me, I'm going crazy here by myself."

Gibbs had kept walking as Tony talked, heading to his own room to take off his coat and put away his weapon and badge.

"Okay," he said, hanging up his jacket in his closet.

"Because seriously Boss, if I gotta stay home alone one more day I'm not sure what I'll do. I don't know if I could get down the stairs in this thing but I may try it. Because working on that boat is about the _only _thing I haven't done in the past week and you can't expect me to….." Tony paused as he realized what his boss had just said.

"Wait. Did you say okay?"

"Yep."

"So you'll let me go back to work?"

"One condition."

"Name it," Tony said with a grin.

"You do exactly what I say, when I say it. We clear?"

"Crystal."

------------

The next day Tony had never been so happy to do paperwork in his entire life. He even asked McGee and Ziva if they needed any help, he was so grateful to be doing something other than sitting on his butt all day.

He was surprised when Gibbs tapped him on the shoulder in the afternoon and told him it was time to go home. Tony almost argued but remembered his promise and kept his mouth shut, meekly allowing Gibbs to take him home and put him into bed. Once again Tony was surprised by how Gibbs knew more about what was going on in his body than he himself did. For as soon as he got home, fatigue hit him like a ton of bricks and he napped until dinner. He was beginning to wonder just how long it was going to take for him to fully recover. It seemed like every time he tried something just a little out of the norm, it took more energy than he thought possible.

Tony was starting to notice something else too. It had been hard to see at first, he being so weak and constantly under Gibbs' care. Something had been nagging at him though and it wasn't until he'd been working at the office for a couple days that he spotted it.

Gibbs was handling him with kid-gloves.

It went beyond not allowing him to do more than paperwork or work for more than a half day. It even went beyond Gibbs having him at his house, cooking for him and caring for his every need.

His boss was still being downright _nice_ to him and truthfully, that really freaked Tony out.

Now Tony knew that Gibbs had an almost uncanny knack for giving people exactly what they needed to help them do their jobs, or even survive. He was never easy on anyone but Tony had observed that he could take it easy when the situation called for it.

If McGee was having a rough day, Tony had seen Gibbs hold back a head slap, using a gruff word instead.

In fact it was one of the reasons Tony didn't mind getting smacked or yelled at most of the time. If the boss felt he was strong enough to take the somewhat rough treatment without going in to a corner to cry at the injustice, then Tony took it as a compliment.

Sensing his need, the boss had responded to Tony in a way not usual for them and yet not that unusual either. Tony had fuzzy memories at best about what all had happened up on that mountain just before their rescue and in those first frightening days in the hospital afterwards. The trauma had been a lot to handle and Gibbs had responded in the exact way Tony had needed, without Tony even realizing he needed it in the first place

Now that Tony felt stronger, he wondered when his boss would switch back to "normal". The fact that he hadn't, made Tony realize that he probably wasn't as strong (either mentally or physically) as he thought he was. Gibbs was most likely acting the way he was to remind his second in command that he still needed to take it easy for a while.

Tony was grateful but a part of him was strangely looking forward to the day where Gibbs screamed at him or head slapped him.

Only then would he know that he was really recovered.

------

Tony hopped into the squad room, grinning from ear to ear.

"Whattya think, Probie?" Tony asked, indicating the new cast and the fact that he was on crutches instead of in the dreaded chair.

McGee looked up from his computer, distracted with the report he was currently typing.

"Cool. Does this mean you can start going out with us again?"

Tony propelled himself around to sit at his desk, carefully stacking the crutches behind him.

"Let's hope so, Probie, let's hope so. Because between you and me I'm getting pretty sick and tired of paperwork."

McGee snorted. "I was wondering how long that would take."

"Yeah well, you try doing nothing but paperwork for more than a week and see how you feel."

McGee grinned. He didn't want to try that at all.

--------

Tony was disappointed when, despite being much more mobile on crutches, Gibbs still wouldn't let him into the field right away.

"C'mon, Boss," he said over dinner the day after he got the crutches. "What trouble could I possibly get into at a crime scene?"

Gibbs swallowed his bite of dinner before answering.

"I don't know DiNozzo, seems to me that you're pretty good at doing that pretty much anywhere."

Tony looked sheepish. "Okay yeah, I'll give you that one but you gotta admit that there's not _much_ trouble I can get into at a crime scene."

Gibbs finally had to admit that and the next day Tony was allowed on to his first scene since the accident. Like everything else in his life since then, it turned out to be harder than he expected.

Taking photos didn't work, he discovered that the hard way when trying to handle both the heavy camera and his crutches at the same time. Mindful of how much the delicate equipment was worth, he had allowed one of his crutches to fall in order to keep the camera from slipping from his grasp after stumbling in the grass. Luckily McGee had been nearby and managed to catch the Senior Field Agent before he'd managed to fall.

Gibbs had been angry, taking away the camera and sending Tony to do sketches and measuring. Unfortunately that hadn't worked out well either. Handling a pad, pencil and crutches proving to be even harder than just crutches and a camera.

Finally Gibbs had allowed Tony to interview the witnesses, something that worked for both of them. Tony finally feeling useful and Gibbs knowing that at least he wouldn't have to worry about the man falling down and breaking his other leg.

-------

For the next few weeks Tony continued to do interviews, calls, and even an interrogation or two (only on witnesses that were pretty much ready to break the moment they were escorted into the room).

Tony was still staying at Gibbs' place but as he got stronger, he needed the boss less and less. They even let the nurse go, Tony figuring out how to put a bag over the cast and shower by himself.

All the while Tony waited for Gibbs to start treating him like he used to before the accident. When it didn't happen the younger man began to worry that it never would. He couldn't understand why Gibbs didn't trust him to be on his own, both at work and at home. He knew what the doctors had said but surely the boss could see how well he was doing? Did he really think that Tony was still that weak?

Finally the day came for Tony to get his final cast removed and get fitted for a walking one. It was the last step in his recovery and Dr. Pitt had said that it would mean he could go home.

As happy as he should have felt about that, Tony was a little somber as Gibbs drove him to the hospital. Abby had elected to come along, wanting to see a cast cut off as she'd never seen it done before.

Tony didn't mind the extra company at all and was happy that Abby would be there to help distract him when they took the thing off. Tony sat down on the bed to wait for the doctor, while Gibbs and Abby stood out of the way.

When Pitt brought around the saw Tony's eyes opened wide.

"Oh man, I always forget about this part."

"What're you scared DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked with a grin. He hadn't been in the room the last time the agent had the cast changed and he had no idea Tony would react the way he was.

"It's the sound Boss. That terrible high pitched sound. It's like a dentist's drill," Tony said, shivering involuntarily.

"Here, ya big baby. You can hold my hand," Abby said and Tony smiled gratefully, grabbing onto her so tight that her eyes opened wide with surprise. Then she grinned and patted his back.

"If you're really good, I'll give you a lollipop."

"Promise?" he asked hopefully.

"Sure, I think I have a couple eyeball ones in my purse."

Tony looked skeptical and opened his mouth to say something when the doctor turned on the saw.

"Nothing to worry about Tony, I already told you this won't hurt," Pitt smiled indulgently at the full grown man sitting in front of him more scared than some of his younger patients.

----

Abby accompanied them back to Gibbs' place, helping Tony to pack up his stuff and getting it all into Gibbs' car. They then began the trip to Tony's apartment.

"Hey Tony," Abby said from the backseat as they drove. She was busy texting and talking to Tony at the same time. "What was that movie you said I should watch? I was just going to text my friend Laura about it."

"Reservoir Dogs, and I can't believe you've never seen it. Heck, I was just watching it again myself the other night."

"Really? Is it that good?" she asked distractedly, still looking at her keypad.

"It's a classic," Tony replied. "In fact, I think it's in my bag. I'll just give it to you now."

Tony began reaching into the backseat. Finding that he couldn't get to his bag easily, he began to twist himself around. Abby was still busy texting on her phone and didn't notice as the agent contorted himself to reach for the wayward DVD.

They stopped at a red light and getting frustrated, Tony absently went to unclip his seatbelt so that he could reach for his bag…...

_*smack!*_

Tony slowly turned his head to find Gibbs' face just inches from his own.

"DiNozzo you move one more muscle and I swear I still stick my boot so far up your ass...." Gibbs left the threat hanging as the light turned green and he turned back to look at the road.

"Sorry Boss," Tony said, quickly turning his face to the window so the other man wouldn't see the Cheshire-wide grin on his face. For with that simple motion and a few words, Tony suddenly knew one thing.

_Guess I must be better......_


End file.
